Weld ponders Champion run

BOOKMAKERS RECKON Princess Highway could be one of the leading home hopes in Saturday’s Red Mills Champion Stakes but trainer Dermot Weld plans on making a late call on whether or not his star filly takes part in the €750,000 weekend highlight.

The Champion is the only domestic Group One race Weld has yet to win, but he insists that will have no bearing on whether Princess Highway appears at Leopardstown or waits for the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp.

“Her next race will either be in the Champion Stakes or the Prix Vermeille. I’ve left her in and will make a decision later in the week,” said Weld yesterday.

“She is a Group winner at 10 furlongs, when she beat the Oaks winner in the Blue Wind and her optimum trip could well be a mile-and-a-quarter . . . Things can change very quickly with horses and I want to see how these races start to look,” he added.

Princess Highway was one of a dozen entries left in the Champion at yesterday’s forfeit stage and they include her stable companion Famous Name, who could well have a third crack at the race.

“We will see with him too. There are several other options for Famous Name but Leopardstown is a possible,” said Weld who may end up chasing a famous Group One double on Saturday with last year’s winner Emulous a “definite” to try and win back-to-back renewals of the Coolmore Fusaichi Pegasus Matron Stakes.

That mile event has attracted 14 hopefuls at this stage, including a trio from Britain. Nathaniel and last year’s runner-up Snow Fairy head the markets, ahead of the Aidan O’Brien team who have half the entries remaining in the race.

The champion trainer is chasing an eighth win. And although committed to running the Grand Prix de Paris winner Imperial Monarch, he also has the option of running St Nicholas Abbeywho was third to Frankel in the Juddmonte at York last month but has never won at a mile-and-a-quarter. This is a comment, however, that does not apply to last year’s Irish Derby hero Treasure Beach who scored at the distance in the Secretariat Stakes last season.

Ground conditions at Leopardstown were officially “good to soft” yesterday but with a favourable forecast for the days ahead.

John Oxx, a three-time Champion winner with Timarida (1996), Azamour (2004) and Sea The Stars (2009), will be represented by the latter’s half-brother, Born To Sea, while Jim Bolger may be represented by the double course and distance winner Light Heavy.

Henry Cecil has left in his Goodwood Group Two winner Chachamaidee in the Matron while Roger Varian’s Nahrain and Mick Channon’s French Group Two winner Laugh Out Loud also figure. Aidan O’Brien’s five-strong entry is headed by Maybe.

Saturday’s card will also include the Icon Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Trial, a mile event that has attracted antepost Derby favourite Mars among an entry of 19.

Richard Hannon has said he will send triple-winner Law Enforcement for the Listed contest.

Paddy Power bet:13-8 Nathaniel 11-4 Snow Fairy 5 St Nicholas Abbey 6 Imperial Monarch 8 Princess Highway 12 Famous Name 20 Born To Sea, Treasure Beach 25 Daddy Long Legs 33 Light Heavy 100 Robin Hood, Windsor Palace