Gordi and French Ballerina are the Irish representatives in today's £200,000 Ascot Gold Cup and while both have chances the best chance of an Irish winner today could be in the opening Ribblesdale Stakes with Dabaya. Compared to the Epsom Oaks runner-up Bahr and the Italian Oaks winner Zomaradah, Dabaya is still something of an unknown quantity but this Group 2 contest can alter that.
The John Oxx-trained filly has had only two races, easily winning a Navan maiden and then running second to the Irish Derby candidate Risk Material in a Listed race at the Curragh. Dabaya looked to be given quite a bit to do against the ultra-tough Risk Material so in the circumstances it was a very promising effort.
She had been a possible for the Epsom Oaks before that but Oxx decided not to travel, a decision which should leave Dabaya fresh for today. Had she run at Epsom though, Dabaya would have been probably given at least as good a chance as Shahtoush beforehand and the O'Brien filly, whose apparently inferior stable companion Star Begonia runs today, defeated Bahr with no real excuses for the Godolphin filly.
Throw in that Bahr reappears so quickly after a hard race, and that both ground and trip will be ideal for Dabaya, and the Oxx filly looks a reasonable bet to give her trainer more Ascot glory.
Seventeen runners make the field for today's Gold Cup the largest this century. The last Irish winner was Levmoss in 1969, who subsequently won the Arc, and while French Ballerina and Gordi are talented the ground looks against the latter and the mare has had a hard year already.
Although unproven over the trip a better bet may be Clerkenwell whose trainer Michael Stoute knows how to win this having saddled Shangamuzo 20 years ago.
A winner at Chester this season, Clerkenwell has on form with Samraan (now a doubtful runner because of the ground) at least as good a chance as the likely favourite Persian Punch and the 1996 Ebor winner should be a better value price.
Aidan O'Brien's Tipperary winner Bugatti Reef, a three parts brother to Dayjur, goes in the Norfolk but after Bint Allayl's scintillating success in yesterday's Queen Mary, it's hard to ignore the claims of Speedy James.
Jack Berry's colt was second to the filly in the National Stakes at Sandown, a result which shocked Berry. That's an emotion that he should not feel today. Monkston Point could be the one for the forecast.
The unraced Rainbow Quest filly Posta Vecchia represents the O'Brien-Kinane team in the Chesham. Posta Vecchia is quite highly regarded at home but that's comment that also applies to Paul Cole's Markan.
