William Hill ambassador Jane Mangan is back with her best bets for Irish Derby Day at the Curragh on Sunday.
Curragh, Sunday
In the handicap over a mile (1:50pm), I like Serialise. This is a quick turnaround following a below-par showing at Royal Ascot, but it was her penultimate run — when finishing second to Skukuza — that really caught the eye. She lines up here off a three-pound lower mark. The handicapper has given her a chance, and if her Ascot exertions haven’t left a mark, I think she’ll be hard to beat.
The Listed Dash Stakes (2:25pm) looks like an ideal opportunity for Erosandpsyche to return to the winner’s enclosure. After a 12-month lay-off, his most recent run — where he went down to Powerful Nation — was encouraging. He’ll come on for that outing, and on just his second start for new trainer Daniel Murphy, I can see him going close. Despite being seven years old, he’s still very lightly raced and looks one to keep on side.
The Celebration Stakes (2:55pm), run over a mile, looks a deep renewal. Skukuza arrives off the back of a victory in a premier handicap on Irish Guineas weekend, but for me, the one to beat is Currawood. His run in the Glencairn Stakes behind Green Impact showed real determination — and don’t forget, he finished second to Officer when they met over this course and distance in the Tetrarch. He’s now dropping back in class, and based on that form, he has Alqazi held. It’s Currawood to give Billy Lee and Paddy Twomey yet another winner this season.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years, it’s to favour the British sprinters over the Irish. The Rockingham Handicap (3:30pm) over the flying five furlongs has attracted a good field, and it looks to me as though Duran could run the race of his life. He’s still only four years old and must surely have more to offer than he showed at York last time out. If you go back to his penultimate run at Haydock, he’s only four pounds higher here. I think he’ll enjoy the quick ground — he looks a real five-furlong specialist and can take the Rockingham home for Nigel Tinkler.
The showpiece of the three days at the Curragh is the Irish Derby (4:10pm). To say that Lambourn is going to become the 20th horse to complete the Epsom/Irish Derby double feels too simplistic a way to assess the race. Yes, he’s the likeliest winner. Yes, it’s likely that his stablemates will aim to make this an end-to-end, stern test. But I think there’s scope to make this race a little more interesting. Given that the pace is likely to be sustained and strong, stamina will come into play — which should really suit Lazy Griff. He was runner-up to Lambourn at both Chester and Epsom, but his form in Chantilly last September, where he beat Gezora, reads very well now, especially after her victory in the Prix de Diane. I can see him getting closer to Lambourn here — I’m not sure he’ll win, but he’s being underestimated in the market.
In Sunday’s final race, the two-mile handicap (5:55pm), I like Too Bossy For Us for Willie Mullins. He had high-class form in the UK when trained by Kevin Philippart de Foy and was fancied by some for Cheltenham, and by more at Punchestown over hurdles. He was left in the Northumberland Plate until the final stage but instead comes here with William Buick booked. He’s running off a mark of 89 — which looks well within reach — and he could round off the weekend in style.
