Mighty mares to win Sprint Cup and Irish Champion Stakes

There is top-quality horse racing on both sides of the Irish Sea this weekend, with Saturday`s Group One events including the betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock in England and the Red Mills Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in Ireland.

Ortensia is the favourite for the Sprint Cup over Haydock`s six furlongs and the only surprise is that the Australian sprinter is not even shorter in the market following her breathtaking Nunthorpe Stakes victory at York last month.

The Paul Messara-trained mare was outpaced over the first couple of furlongs but, under a patient William Buick ride, she started making headway from the two-furlong pole and ultimately beat Spirit Quartz by a neck on the line.

Messara had been worried that the state of the Knavesmire track, softened by heavy rain in the 24 hours leading up to the Nunthorpe Stakes, would prove Ortensia`s undoing but she picked up beautifully when Buick shook the reins, producing a burst of incredible speed at the business end of the race.

Ortensia`s form over six furlongs is, arguably, better than hers over the minimum trip of the Nunthorpe Stakes so one should expect the seven-year-old daughter of Testa Rossa to improve once again on her fifth straight race in England.

According to bookmakers, Bated Breath poses the biggest Sprint Cup threat to Ortensia but punters who have backed Roger Charlton`s entire in Group One contests have gone broke after eight attempts for four seconds but no firsts.

Bated Breath was a nose runner-up to Dream Ahead in last year`s Sprint Cup and that has been the story of his life. Always there seems to be one runner to good for him at the top level. His connections may have to come to terms with that he is just a little bit short of Group One class.

Other Sprint Cup entries near the top of the betting include this year`s July Cup winner Mayson and another Group One nearly horse, Strong Suit. The jury is out on Mayson on anything other than soft ground, while Strong Suit falls into the same expensive-to-follow category as Bated Breath.

Ortensia appeals in the Sprint Cup, while it is another tough mare who gets the Irish Champion Stakes nod.

Bookmakers have installed Nathaniel as the favourite for the high-class Leopardstown race over 10 furlongs and that does not make much sense given that his best form is over a mile and a half and the Irish track may not be sufficiently soft.

Yes, Nathaniel did take out this year`s Coral-Eclipse Stakes over Sandown`s 10 furlongs but he needed every single yard of the trip to get the better of Farhh and seven others.

Snow Fairy, the impressive three-quarter-length winner of a Deauville Group One over 10 furlongs on her reappearance three weeks ago, is a mile-and-a-quarter specialist whose form is very hard to crab. The five-year-old daughter of Intikhab goes on any ground and should improve on the performance that she produced in edging Izzi Top.

The Irish Champion Stakes has attracted a really fantastic field and, because Nathaniel is a false favourite through no fault of his own, Snow Fairy is really fantastic value bet.

It would be no surprise whatsoever to see punters back Snow Fairy into Irish Champion Stakes favouritism on the track.

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06/09/2012     © Frixo 2024