Bellewstown preview
By the time Reginald Heber started including the results from Bellewstown in his Racing Calendar of 1751, there was already newspaper evidence of sporting activity on the Hill of Crockafotha going back another quarter of a century.
It belongs to a dwindling number of Irish racecourses capable of staging five-furlong sprints and we have two of these on the opening evening here.
Deerpark (5.30) is an interesting runner in the opener as he ran well enough to finish seventh to Man O World at Naas.
Third place that day went to Slip Dance and on Saturday when virtually all our attention was focused on the Derby Festival meeting at the Curragh, Eamon Tyrrell side-stepped any pre-race publicity and slipped her across to Newmarket where racing was taking place on the July Course.
Not merely did he land a sweet gamble as she was backed in from 20 to 1 to 16 to 1 but in the process she acquired valuable black type, the Cheveley Park Stud Empress Stakes being a Fillies Listed race.
That form also ties in with Royal Ascot's Queen Mary Stakes winner Damson whose trainer, David Wachman, takes on the disappointing Fairwood Present with his Roscommon winner Moydrum Castle (7.30).
In his first season as a hurdler More Rainbows (7.0) notched three wins and he clearly has the makings of a good National Hunt handicapper of the future. In the meantime, though, Noel Meade is looking to mop up some flat races and he is napped to supplement his very easy Limerick win.
Our Fella (8.30) started favourite at Punchestown last month but after getting into some trouble ceased to be a factor.
That was not his true form as previously he had run third to That's That and Witnesses Daughter in a superior Ballinrobe bumper.
Meanwhile, an appeal has been lodged by the owners of Kay Two against the decision by the Curragh stewards not to promote their horse to third place following an inquiry into Sunday's Anheuser Busch Railway Stakes.
Kay Two, who carries the colours of Hugh McGahon, finished fourth behind Democratic Deficit, Russian Blue and L'Altro Mondo in the Group Two contest after being hampered well inside the final furlong. Following an inquiry into two incidents, the local officials allowed the judge's placings to stand. However, they found that Tadgh O'Shea, who partnered third-placed L'Altro Mondo, had "ridden carelessly" and suspended him for two days.
Dahjee, a full-brother to the brilliant Dubai Millennium, makes his racecourse debut at Kempton tonight. The three-year-old colt will be ridden by Frankie Dettori and faces nine rivals when lining up for the mile and a half maiden.
Owned by Godolphin and trained by Saeed bin Suroor, Dahjee has a hard act to follow in Dubai Millennium who won nine of his 10 starts, including four Group One races, before being tragically killed by a bout of grass sickness in April 2001
Cherubim ended a 19-day barren spell for Newmarket trainer David Loder with victory in the maiden fillies' stakes at Brighton yesterday. Tom Queally's mount ran on well to score by a length and a half from Sea Of Gold. It was Loder's first win from 20 runners and only his second since May 16th.
"There is no problem with them," said assistant Rick Bowman. "The ones that are capable of winning are winning, while the ones who are in the grip of the handicapper are not. We have some nice horses still to run, but many of our two-year-old maiden winners last year are so badly handicapped that they have been given no chance of winning."