RACING:MICHAEL HALFORD is hopeful a €10,000 gamble by Sheikh Mohammed can provide him with the biggest success of his career when the high-class juvenile Casamento lines up in Sunday's Beresford Stakes at the Curragh.
Casamento, beaten just a head by Pathfork in the National Stakes earlier this month, was supplemented into the Group Two contest at a cost of €10,000 yesterday and Halford confirmed the plan is to take part in the prestigious mile event.
“He has surprised me how well he has come out of the National Stakes.
“He’s very, very well and worked nicely this morning. I spoke to John Ferguson (Sheikh Mohammed’s representative) and we decided to go for this race,” the Co Kildare trainer said.
After Casamento’s impressive display in the National Stakes on just his second ever start, he was installed as low as 16 to 1 for next year’s 2,000 Guineas, and there had been speculation he could take part in next month’s Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
“I think Godolphin have a couple of horses in England for that, like the horse that won the Champagne (Saamidd,) so we will go to the Curragh instead.
“I don’t know if this will be his last start of the season. We’ll see how things go at the weekend,” Halford added.
The trainer has a number of Group Three victories under his belt on the flat, as well as a Grade One over hurdles, but success on Sunday would be a career highlight for him.
It would also see Casamento join an illustrious roll-of-honour as the John Oxx-trained trio Sea The Star (2008), Azamour (2003) and Alamashar (2002) won the Beresford in the last decade before going onto Group One glory.
St Nicholas Abbey was last year’s Beresford winner and Aidan O’Brien has won the race 10 times.
Eight of the 15 horses confirmed at the five-day stage are trained by the champion trainer including Long Live The King who earned Derby quotes after a promising Leopardstown debut behind A Word Apart.
O’Brien has also left in both Treasure Beach and Samuel Morse, both colts who figure among the possibles for Saturday’s Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot too.
There are no British entries for the Beresford but seven of the 20 left in the CL Weld Park Stakes are British based including four from Mick Channon’s yard.
The former England international soccer player won the Park with Eva’s Request three years ago and his quartet of entries this time include Sonning Rose who was fourth to the Guineas favourite White Moonstone in the May Hill at Doncaster earlier this month.
David Wachman has won the Group Three event twice before with Chintz (2008) and Venturi (2003) and has kept open the option of allowing Chrysanthemum who made a 25 to 1 winning debut in a Listed event at the Curragh 10 days ago to appear again.
The daughter of Danehill Dancer is a joint 20 to 1 second favourite for next year’s Epsom Oaks and could return to headquarters after Wachman said yesterday:
“I will look at what is in it and make a decision closer to the time, maybe Thursday or Friday.”
Ground conditions at the Curragh yesterday were officially “good to yielding” on the round course and “yielding” on the straight track.
Thirty eight entries remain in the €70,000 Hacketts Irish Cesarewitch with seven from Ballydoyle including last week’s Listowel winner Clearwater Bay who has been given an official mark of 106 which makes him top-rated for Sunday’s event.
His stable companion, Lady Lupus, third in the Irish Oaks and fifth in the Irish Leger, also holds a Cesarewitch entry.
Dermot Weld has left in Majestic Concorde, third in the Galway Plate last time, and also the Killarney and Galway scorer, Endless Intrigue.
