Irish racing is its own ecosystem a lot of the time and this weekend’s hugely lucrative Curragh action underlines the point with a vengeance.
Europe’s most valuable two-year-old race, the Goffs Million, is run on Saturday, 24 hours before the richest handicap of all, the €600,000 Friends of the Curragh Irish Cesarewitch, takes place.
But the build-up to both appears to be notable more for discretion rather than any idea of hard sell.
It’s a long way from some memorable advertising drives, such as the one around Australia’s massively valuable Everest race. That included the controversial projection of riders’ silks on to Sydney Opera House in 2018, reflecting determination to get every bit of promotional bang for the many millions of bucks.
READ MORE
But by their nature, these massively endowed Curragh features are much more in-house affairs.
Saturday’s €1 million feature is restricted to graduates of last year’s Orby Sale and a bumper 30-strong field, the biggest yet for the race, indicates success in generating buyer interest for Ireland’s premier yearling sale, which starts again on Monday.
A total of €1 million has already been paid in individual €50,000 bonuses in races across Ireland and Britain this summer. But a massive half-million to the winner, with prize money down to 10th, dangles the prospect of a bumper pay-day for somebody.
It is also the fourth renewal of a Cesarewitch boosted to a massive level by individual Curragh supporters in an initiative first moved by the former Horse Racing Ireland chairman Joe Keeling. Ambitions to boost the race to a million in prize money haven’t been fulfilled, but it is still a vastly different beast from the contest worth a comparatively meagre €80,000 in 2021.
That such a level of investment hasn’t led to a higher profile for this weekend’s action doesn’t seem to be generating much concern, recognition perhaps that even throwing vast sums of prize money at something still makes legacy fixtures such as the Listowel festival hard to compete with.
There’s also an industry feel to it, of business wheels turning, whatever level of outside interest there might be.
The Orby Sale, by definition, deals at the elite level. It’s something of a surprise, then, that the most powerful operation of all, Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle team, hasn’t won the Million so far. But even allowing for 30 runners, the champion trainer looks to have the outstanding single talent in the race this time.
Composing was his number one hope for Moyglare glory earlier this month, but faded out of the frame behind her stable companion Precise. Impressive in the Debutante before that, the filly boasts a profile that could enable her to pick up a handy half-million pretty comfortably.
Ronan Whelan is on board Composing, having got the better of her on Precise at the Irish Champions Festival. With Ryan Moore injured, Christophe Soumillon suspended, and Wayne Lordan in Newmarket, a spot on the Ballydoyle subs bench once again looks like paying off handsomely for the 32-year-old rider.
Whelan teams up with Hawk Mountain for O’Brien in the earlier Qatar Racing Beresford Stakes, where Declan McDonogh is on stable companion Port Of Spain. Both have ground to make up on Geryon from earlier in the season, although Whelan’s mount looks a progressive type.
Whelan is on Queenstown, one of a trio of O’Brien Cesarewitch runners. Conversely, the champion trainer has won two of the last three renewals of the big handicap, which, theoretically at least, affords more opportunity to more connections.
Both of those winners started favourite, but Joseph O’Brien had a 150-1 shocker in 2023 with Magellan Straits. O’Brien jnr has a massive team of seven runners on Sunday, one more than Willie Mullins.
The single British hope is topweight Tashkhan while there will be plenty of sentimental hopes around the disqualified Galway Hurdle winner Helvic Dream and stalwart veteran Lord Erekine.
Harry Rogers’s hugely likable 12-year-old won the Cesarewitch all of eight years ago when it was worth a fifth of the current prize money.
Filey Bay, winner of the big amateur prize in Galway during the summer, is one of three JP McManus-owned hopefuls. However, it is Henry de Bromhead’s sole chance, Ascending, that may ultimately emerge on top.
The Royal Ascot winner ran into what now looks a very well handicapped rival in Ethical Diamond when runner-up in York’s Ebor last month.
Joe Murphy has enjoyed a benchmark season with his Coronation Stakes winner Cercene and might have another talented filly on his hands with top-flight potential in Pivotal Attack.
She won impressively at Galway and wasn’t beaten far behind Precise in the Moyglare on her last start. That has got her an official 100-rating for the Group Three Weld Park Stakes, where she should prove very competitive.
Curragh specialist Big Gossey looked slightly unlucky on his last start earlier this month and can go close with a clearer run in the Renaissance Stakes.
