Gavin Cromwell
Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Irish Derby weekend preview
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his four runners at the Curragh for Irish Derby weekend, including star filly Fiery Lucy.
Bet on Horse Racing at William Hill
Friday/Sunday, Curragh
We have four runners across the three days at the Curragh, with two on Friday and two on Sunday, Irish Derby day. We start off with Boogie Inthejungle in the Maiden (6.20pm) over a mile. She’s a really nice filly and we’re looking forward to getting her three-year-old season underway.
She’s a big girl and I definitely think she’s taken a step forward over the last year. She works well at home and she should go well here.
Later on Friday, we have Pachmena in the Apprentice Derby Handicap (8.00pm). She’s an eight-year-old now and is probably plenty high enough in the handicap off a mark of 76. Hopefully she can run a nice race and pick up a bit of prize money.
On Sunday we start off with Fiery Lucy in the Listed race over a mile (2.55pm). The round mile should be a help to her, it won’t be as much of a stamina test as the straight mile, which should be ideal.
We considered keeping her against fillies all season but she goes up against the boys here and some older horses. It’s a bit of an unknown but she’s getting plenty of weight, so we’ll take our chances.
It should be nice ground which she’ll appreciate and our apprentice Robert Whearty takes the ride. He knows her well from home and hopefully she can go close.
Our final runner of the Irish Derby weekend is Pinot Gris in the Stayers Handicap (5.55pm) over two miles. He’s in great form and he has a lovely racing weight. Down at the bottom of the handicap off a mark of 79, I think he has to have a great chance.
Get the latest from Gavin Cromwell at William Hill
Royal Ascot reaction
We sadly came away from Royal Ascot without a winner, but we were very happy for Gary Carroll winning his first Group 1 in the Coronation Stakes, although we’d have preferred it to be for us! He’s a big part of our team and we’re all delighted for him.
Snellen went close, finishing second in the Kensington Palace for her new owner. They paid a good price for her at the Goffs London Sale and were duly rewarded a couple of days later. We’ve got no immediate plans for her but she has a few entries and she could go back to Ascot in July for the Listed race over a mile on King George day.
We were disappointed with Kayhana’s performance in that race. The ground was a bit quick for her, she raced prominently and was a little keen. That said, she’s come out of it okay so she’ll be fine and we’ll start looking at options for her.
