Is this dawning of Aquarius?

AGE OF Aquarius could attempt to step into the Gold Cup shoes of the mighty Yeats at Leopardstown on Sunday when he lines up for the Saval Beg Stakes.

Sunday’s card is being marketed by Horse Racing Ireland as “Ireland’s biggest ever youth race day”, with Leopardstown marking the 25th anniversary of the President’s Gaisce awards for young people.

Among the attractions will be a two-race challenge between teams of jump and flat riders, captained by Ruby Walsh and Johnny Murtagh, while there will also be music on site. Admission for anyone under 25 will be €10.

The feature event in racing terms, however, will be the Ballycorus Stakes, which will see last year’s winner, Duff, attempt to defend his title in the seven-furlong Group Three highlight.

A dozen entries remain in the Ballycorus after yesterday’s forfeit stage, and they include last year’s Guineas runner-up, Rayeni, as well as the promising Curragh maiden winner Emulous, who represents the in-form Dermot Weld team.

Going conditions at Leopardstown yesterday were officially “firm” with watering expected to begin today.

However, there will also be plenty interest in the Saval Beg Stakes which has been won by some of Ireland’s top stayers like Vinnie Roe, Media Puzzle and Vintage Crop.

Weld trained that top-class trio, and it appears as if his older mare, Profound Beauty, could attempt to improve on her already impressive Leopardstown record on Sunday.

Profound Beauty has won three of her five starts at the Dublin track, including the Group Three Ballyroan Stakes and the Listed Challenge Stakes last year.

The Moyglare-owned mare hasn’t run since September’s Irish Leger, after which she was ruled out of another attempt on the Melbourne Cup, a race in which she ran a close fifth in 2008.

Yeats was a Saval Beg winner in 2007 as a prelude to the second of his record four victories in the Ascot Gold Cup. With Aidan O’Brien’s superstar now retired to stud, the search is on for the next leader of the staying brigade, and Yeats’s former stable companion, Age Of Aquarius, is rated a 7 to 1 second favourite in some ante-post lists to take over the Ascot crown next month.

The four-year-old finished runner-up to Harbinger on his first start of the season at Chester and looks set to try to go one better this weekend against a field that could contain the English-trained pair Les Fazzani and Yes Mr President, whose trainer, Mark Johnston, won the Saval Beg 10 years ago with the subsequent Gold Cup hero Royal Rebel.

How O’Brien formulates his Epsom Derby team will be the focus of attention for much of this week, but Paddy Power reckon Jan Vermeer will be Epsom-bound after market support yesterday saw Sunday’s Gallinule Stakes winner cut to 6 to 1 second favourite.

“Aidan warned he might run Jan Vermeer in the French equivalent 24 hours later,” Paddy Power said. “But the ‘sharp’ money that we’ve seen would indicate that he is Epsom-bound.”

O’Brien reported: “We were very pleased with Jan Vermeer in the Gallinule. He showed plenty of pace and came home really well despite it being his first run of the season.”

There may also be a change of plan for O’Brien’s four-year-old star Fame And Glory, who had been mentioned as a possible for the Coronation Cup at Epsom but who could now wait for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“Fame And Glory won nicely in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and he will probably go in either the Coronation Cup or the Prince Of Wales’s,” O’Brien said.

Rely on Archie Boy

IT’S NOT often a card’s feature is the first race, but this evening’s three-runner steeplechase at Punchestown provides an intriguing clash that could just fall the way of Archie Boy, writes Brian O’Connor.

Even those who believe in the cliché about backing the outsider-of-three will be putting their faith in the Cork winner Coscorrig in the Go Racing in Kildare Chase.

But on figures this looks to lie between Archie Boy and See U Bob, with the latter coming out a few pounds ahead on ratings despite finishing well behind his rival at Liverpool in April.

That came in the race won by Tataniano, where See U Bob was well beaten while Archie Boy finished an honourable third.

Since then Paul Flynn’s consistent, fast-ground performer has run twice, scoring from Lucky Wish at Killarney this month, and that proven good form could be decisive.

Barry Geraghty is on duty for Baracas in the second of the maiden hurdles and this dual-Dundalk winner can make it third time lucky over flights.

Oilily belied 33 to 1 odds to finish runner-up to Hidden Universe in the Champion Bumper here at the festival and is hard to oppose in the mares maiden hurdle.