A massive €3.3 million might be up for grabs in the Goffs Million Sales races at the Curragh on Friday but Aidan O'Brien's focus will be on the following day when Yeats leads the champion trainer's attempt to complete an Irish classic clean-sweep.
The Irish Field Irish St Leger is the one home classic yet to fall to O'Brien who completed the feat in Britain two years ago. A similar achievement here looked likely last season when Yeats started a 2 to 7 favourite for the Curragh but lost by half a length to Kastoria.
This time Yeats is set to be joined by his multiple Group One winning stable companion Scorpion in Saturday's final classic of 2007 and O'Brien has the three top rated horses among the 13 strong entry left in the race after yesterday's forfeit stage although Septimus has an alternative engagement at Doncaster.
Bookmaker reaction was to make Yeats a heavy odds on favourite once again with Cashmans installing the double Ascot Gold Cup winner as their 2 to 5 market leader. Scorpion is next best at 4 to 1 and it's 10 to 1 bar the Ballydoyle pair.
One of their main rivals will be the Kevin Prendergast-trained Mores Wells, winner of the Group Three Ballyroan Stakes on his last start, and who will be attempting a mile and six furlongs for the first time. "I don't think the extra two furlongs will do him any harm," Prendergast predicted yesterday. "The family all stayed well. His dam won the Queens Vase over two miles at Royal Ascot."
Also among the entries and, like both Yeats and Scorpion a candidate for a trip Down Under to the Melbourne Cup, is Dermot Weld's Bellamy Cay while there are six British hopefuls that include last weekend's September Stakes winner Steppe Dancer.
He would be a first top-flight runner for Denis Coakley who said yesterday: "He's been fine since Kempton but it is a short time between races - I'd love another week. We will see closer to the weekend. He ran over a mile and five in the Ormonde at Chester and ran well so the trip should be fine. But we will only go if he has a chance and we would not want soft ground either."
That seems to be unlikely at this stage as the ground at the Curragh yesterday was "good to firm" and a mostly dry forecast is in place until the weekend.
That will be good news ahead of the Parknasilla Hotel Goffs Million races which have attracted a dozen entries each from Britain for both the colts and fillies races. Each race is worth €1.6 million, with a million going to each winner, making it Ireland's richest race day and significantly the colts race still features the star name of the unbeaten classic favourite New Approach.
A half share in the Jim Bolger- trained horse was recently bought by Sheikh Mohammed but New Approach's main target this weekend reportedly remains Sunday's Group One National Stakes at headquarters.
Aidan O'Brien's sole entry in both races is Windsor Palace in the colts event but a major player is likely to be the David Wachman- trained Lisvale, a course winner who also landed a Listed race at Tipperary in good style, and is owned by the race sponsors.
A total of 27 entries remain in the fillies race including Dermot Weld's Campfire Glow who landed the Group Two Debutante Stakes at the course on her last start.
The Irish Derby hero Soldier Of Fortune is one of five options for Aidan O'Brien in Saturday's Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster but he is not being quoted by the classic sponsors who instead make his stable companion Honolulu their 9 to 4 favourite.
BETTING: (Cashmans): 2-5 Yeats, 4 Scorpion, 10 Bellamy Cay and Mores Wells, 16 Mighty, 20 Admirals Cruise and Galistic 33 Steppe Dancer and The Whistling Teal, 50 Ezima.
