The Group 2 Curragh Cup has been won by some big names down the years. The race highlights the opening day of the Curragh’s Irish Derby meeting, and we have had an in-depth look at the field alongside BetUK, who are offering £30 in Free Bets to new customers who sign up and bet £10.
Aidan O’Brien Sends Trio In Search Of Win No.8
Given he has been in charge of Ballydoyle’s fearsome operation since 1996, it took Aidan O’Brien a fair while to get off the mark in the Curragh Cup. His first victory came courtesy of Septimus in 2008, while it took another five years for him to double up.
Now, however, he looks for a seventh success in the last ten renewals. Chief among his hopes this time around is Wordsworth, the brother to Kew Gardens.
The chestnut has not always been the most consistent: in 12 career starts, he has been favourite nine times, but only won twice. He was a non-stayer in the gruelling 2m5½f Queen Alexandra Stakes at the end of Royal Ascot, but did get within a length of winning the Sagaro Stakes at Ascot and was twice placed at Group 1 level last term. This trip should suit him ideally.
His other pair are both three-year-olds, the same age as three of O’Brien’s former winners of the race. The pick of the duo is probably Temple Of Artemis, a brother to three former winners of the yard and who got off the mark in handicap company at Chester in May. That was a very solid performance and hinted that marathon trips may well be his bag. Sussex may be an outsider, but there is plenty of stamina on his dam’s side of the family. Only two of O’Brien’s winners of the race have gone off favourite as well.
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Joseph Gears Up Duo To Master Aidan
By far the most experienced in the field at this level is Joseph O’Brien’s Master Of Reality. He came within a head of winning the Melbourne Cup in 2019, while he has also won twice at Listed level and once in a Group 3 over this trip of 1m6f.
He was just under three lengths behind Wordsworth in the Listed Hanlon Concrete Orby Stakes at this venue over 1m4f last month, but stamina has always been his forte and there is no weight concession this time around.
There is every chance he can reverse that form while Joseph’s other chance comes in the shape of Gear Up. A Group 1 winning juvenile, his three-year-old season did not go to plan for Mark Johnston, but the move to O’Brien looks to have already sharpened him up. He was a close fourth in the Group 3 Alleged Stakes before winning at Gowran back over 1m1½f earlier this month.
He may have something to prove back up markedly in trip, but given he could win a Group 1 over 1m2f on heavy ground at two, there is every chance there is potential untapped for him here.
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Other Powerful Operations In The Mix
Both Ger Lyons and Jim Bolger will be intent on breaking the O’Brien brigades’ hearts.
The former runs Camorra, who has been a bit unlucky in-running on his two starts this term. He won a Group 3 at leopardstown over 1m4f last September and has been punished with penalties at Listed level the last thrice. On even terms, he is weighted to get much closer to both Master Of Reality and Wordsworth from their recent meeting.
Bolger has the more classically-named Manu Et Corde. He kept good company as a juvenile, being beaten just a length in the Group 2 Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown, while also finishing second to Luxembourg in the Beresford Stakes.
Initially it appeared that he had not trained on, but when stepped up in trip at the weekend, he finished third over 1m5f off a mark of 97 at Down Royal. As a son of Teofilo, there is a chance he could appreciate further yet.
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Slattery Aboard His Own Stable Star
Andrew Slattery trains out of a base in Thurles and has never sent out a horse of the level of Sunchart. Indeed, so consistent has the horse been at a high level that Slattery has ridden him in every one of his races since August 2020.
He has been a runner-up no fewer than five times since then, including twice at Listed level and in a group 3 behind Gold Cup winner Kyprios last month. He failed by just a head to reel in Wordsworth over 1m5½f at Gowran Park at the start of this season and is at his best over this trip. He cannot be totally ruled out from a heartwarming success.
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Verdict
It is not easy to rely on any of those aged four and above, so it may be worth banking on TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS to improve further for going up to 1m6f. Though he was winless in his first three starts, he did well to win at Chester and Aidan O’Brien’s last four winners of this race have come courtesy of a horse who was not his first string. Master Of Reality’s experience may serve him well to challenge most.
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