Lynam has high hopes for Sole

RACING:SOLE POWER has endured a largely frustrating 2011 but trainer Eddie Lynam is hoping a return to six furlongs could reboot his star sprinter's season in Saturday week's Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock.

Last year’s shock 100 to 1 Nunthorpe Stakes winner was prevented from attempting a follow up at York last week when ground conditions turned too soft and the going was also less than ideal for Royal Ascot’s Kings Stand Stakes in June.

However in May, Sole Power proved his Nunthorpe victory was no fluke with a convincing success in the Group Two Temple Stakes at Haydock. A return to the Lancashire track is on the cards providing ground conditions are quick enough for the Sprint Cup which will be Sole Power’s first start at six furlongs since his two-year-old days.

“He didn’t get six furlongs as a two-year-old (three defeats) but we’re hoping now he’s a bit older he will get it. Ground permitting, I would imagine he will go to Haydock,” Lynam said yesterday.

“He’s also in a Group Three at Newbury over five furlongs the following week and he is in the Flying Five at the Curragh this weekend but the forecast there is not very encouraging,” the trainer reported.

Lynam admitted it has been a frustrating campaign for his stable star but that could change later in the year with a tilt at the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe day on the cards and there is also the potential for an invite to Hong Kong for the International festival in December. “It’s all ground dependant and we could end up having to travel with this horse. He could go to Hong Kong if invited and we may go back to Dubai,” he said.

Sole Power is currently a 16-1 shot in ante-post betting for Haydock, a similar price to the other likely Irish hope, Charles O’Brien’s Bewitched. It is nearly 40 years since an Irish horse has won the big Haydock sprint – Vincent O’Brien’s Abergwaun in 1972.

Longchamp’s Prix de l’Opera remains an option for the prolific winner Banimpire despite a lack-lustre fifth to Blue Bunting in last week’s Yorkshire Oaks. Trainer Jim Bolger pinpointed a couple of possible excuses for his star filly on the back of that effort.

“She’s fine. She’ll have a couple of easy days and then we’ll have to start back at it again or else she’ll start piling on the weight. We want to keep her going until the end of the season and see what we are going to do next year,” he said.

“I think there were a couple of things against her. The ground was very tacky and she didn’t handle it and also she was due in season. It is possible that might have been against her and Kevin (Manning) said she was very quiet in herself,” he added.