Septimus could reappear in Curragh Cup on Saturday

SEPTIMUS COULD make his eagerly-anticipated first start of the season in the At The Races Curragh Cup on Saturday.

Aidan O'Brien's five-year-old, who won both the Lonsdale and Doncaster Cups last season, skipped a battle with stable companion Yeats at Ascot last week.

As well as Septimus, O'Brien has Bashkirov, Hindu Kush and Mikhail Fokine.

Mark Johnston's Peppertree Lane, who won the race last year, could travel over from England along with John Dunlop's improving Samuel, Brian Meehan's Supersonic Dave and Amanda Perratt's Tungsten Strike.

Kevin Prendergast's duo of Red Moloney and Mores Wells are solid yardsticks, while John Oxx could run Hassanka.

Jim Bolger's Ezima and Mick Halford's Nick's Nikita complete the list of 13 possibles.

Jim Bolger's pair of top-class fillies, Finsceal Beo and Lush Lashes, could clash in the Audi Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday. Last year's dual Guineas heroine Finsceal Beo ran a solid race at Ascot in the Queen Anne, while Lush Lashes returned to a mile with great success in the Coronation Stakes.

It will be back up to a mile and a quarter this weekend if she takes her chance. Bolger has also entered Toirneach.

There are two entries from England, with Richard Fahey's soft-ground lover Anna Pavlova and Michael Stoute's Promising Lead possibles at this stage.

Kevin Prendergast also has a couple entered, Beach Bunny and Marjalina, who was a huge disappointment on her last start in the Blue Wind Stakes.

Aidan O'Brien can choose from Ice Queen, Love To Dance, Psalm and Sail.

Dermot Weld's Mad About You is due to attempt the trip for the first time having being beaten a head in the Irish Guineas.

The Pat Flynn-trained She's Our Mark completes the 13-runner field at this stage.

Officials at the Curragh believe the going could be towards "the easy side of good" for the start of the two-day Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby meeting this weekend.

The ground was described as good to yielding on the round course and yielding on the straight course yesterday. "The Met Office say it will be an unsettled week and it is difficult to predict how much rainfall we will get," said general manager Paul Hensey.

"The ground on the Derby course is just on the easy side of good and I would be hopeful, based on the forecast, that the ground will be as close to that for the weekend."

Impressive Royal Ascot scorer Art Connoisseur will be supplemented for the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh. Michael Bell's two-year-old came from last to first to win the Coventry Stakes and will remain over six furlongs in the Group One heat on July 27th.

"He seems fine after Ascot and will be supplemented into the Phoenix Stakes," said the Newmarket handler.

"The way he won was pretty breathtaking and I feel he deserves to have a shot at a Group One." Art Connoisseur is a 10 to 1 shot with the sponsors for next year's Stan James 2,000 Guineas.

Al Eile has met with a setback which has ruled him out of Saturday's John Smith's Northumberland Plate at Newcastle.

John Queally's fine dual-purpose performer scoped badly at the weekend after failing to sparkle in a workout. Therefore he was not among the five-day confirmations for the valuable two-mile handicap at the Gosforth Park track. "He worked a little bit below par at the weekend and a subsequent scope revealed all was not right with him," said the Co Waterford trainer.

"We'll take it easy for a few weeks and look at an autumn campaign. We will start him off on the Flat, possibly the Ebor, one of those kind of races later on," added Queally.