Aidan O’Brien has won the GAIN Railway Stakes 11 times, including with famous names such as Rock Of Gibraltar and George Washington, but is six years since the last of them and Richard Hannon’s Log Out Island can maintain a rather more recent tradition in the Group Two contest.
Hannon's father won the juvenile highlight last year with Kool Kompany and also in 2011 with Lilbourne Lad so there is encouragement Log Out Island can bounce back quickly from a Norfolk Stakes defeat by Waterloo Bridge last week.
“It looks a good opportunity for him at Group Two level, so we decided we’d let him take his chance,” Hannon said. “It does come up quite quick, but he’s only really had the one race in his life and I really want to see him run over six furlongs.”
Painted Cliffs is the Ballydoyle hope but he will need to step up on his Leopardstown victory so Jessica Harrington’s course and distance winner Rockaway Boy could emerge as a big danger.
One of the most remarkable Royal Ascot performances came from War Envoy who defied a big weight in the Britannia Handicap and it will be fascinating to see how he fares back in black-type company in the Listed Celebration Stakes.
The Curragh's other Listed Saturday contest is the Dash which sees Tested given a first chance at six furlongs.
Dermot Weld’s filly thrives on quick going and showed plenty of early pace when beaten over seven furlongs by Convergence at Leopardstown recently. She is up against some seasoned sprinters here but her ability to rattle off top of the ground should make her a major contender.
Willie Mullins gives Max Dynamite a first start on the flat in Newcastle's Northumberland Plate but the horse has a classic pedigree having finished eighth to Intello in the 2013 French Derby prior to joining the champion jumps trainer.
