VOLCANIC ASH permitting, Johnny Murtagh has a busy day in front of him, dashing from his afternoon date at York with Starspangledbanner and Cabaret to six rides at Naas in the evening, which include Unity in the Group Three feature.
Cabaret, who was backed into 16 to 1 for the Oaks yesterday, has York’s Musidora Stakes as a number one option but she has also been declared for the Blue Wind Stakes at Naas in case ash disrupts flight plans this morning.
“We have been in contact with the Turf Club to explain the situation and they were satisfied with what we said to them,” Cabaret’s trainer Aidan O’Brien said yesterday.
Cabaret was a Group Three winner last year in the Silver Flash Stakes but her saddle slipped in the Prix Marcel Boussac in October, turning the race into a “non-event” in O’Brien’s words.
Starspangledbanner, a dual Group One winner in Australia, has his first European start in the Group Two Duke Of York Stakes which is due to start just two and a half hours before the first at Naas.
The home feature is the Blue Wind Stakes which in Cabaret’s likely absence will have nine starters with five of the classic generation tackling their elders in the mile and a quarter Group Three.
Quick ground might not suit the older fillies, Grace O’Malley and She’s Our Mark, and it was noticeable how Unity stepped up on her three previous starts when meeting a fast surface for the first time in the Salsabil Stakes at Navan last month.
Ballydoyle look to have a real Royal Ascot candidate in Zoffany who had no problem switching out to get a run and still win on his Leopardstown debut.
He should have little difficulty following in the footsteps of Steinbeck in the six-furlong conditions event while Murtagh can also strike in the 10-furlong maiden on Bridge Mountain. Rockymountainhigh is in with a major shout in the six-furlong handicap.
