Timarwa to repay Oxx's faith

Curragh Saturday preview:Timarwa might have the most unlikely profile of any of the major contenders for today's Group One Audi Pretty Polly Stakes but that isn't likely to spoil her chances of upsetting some big names in the Curragh feature.

With a French Oaks winner in West Wind supplemented into the race for €25,000, and Peeping Fawn, runner-up in the English Oaks just five days after running third in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, dominating the betting, Timarwa faces a big ask on just the third start of her career.

The opposition will also include three older horses and the older generation have won the three runnings of this race since it was promoted to Group One status. However, John Oxx is not one to make entries for the sake of it and the presence of Timarwa in the race speaks volumes for the regard in which she is held by the local trainer.

The daughter of the Champion Stakes winner Timarida blotted her comeback copybook by refusing to load at Leopardstown but then beat a very smart filly in Profound Beauty and her sole two-year-old start indicates she will be fine on soft ground.

"It's a big step up in class. It's a big task going from a maiden to a Group One race so it will be interesting to see where she finishes," Oxx said yesterday. "You can't get carried away with maiden form but it does look to be working out all right."

The ground could be key for the Group Three At The Races Curragh Cup and with Peppertree Lane likely to act on a dig, the English runner is marginally preferred to the veteran, Mutakarrim. Katirisa was an odds-on failure at Tipperary behind Many Colours on firm ground but with going conditions different now, her run behind Peeping Fawn at Naas reads well for the seven-furlong handicap, especially since she is only 1lb out of the handicap proper.