Aidan O’Brien served up a surprise Monday when declaring MASTERCRAFTSMAN
(Danehill Dancer) for Saturday’s Irish Champion S. (Ire-G1) at Leopardstown.
While the 10-furlong contest has long been the stated aim of his Irish Derby
(G1)-winning stable companion FAME AND GLORY (Montjeu [Ire]), whose name
features among six Ballydoyle entries out of the total of 11, the inclusion of
the Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) and St James’s Palace S. (Ire-G1) hero
adds further intrigue.
Trainer John Oxx has yet to give the green light for SEA THE STARS (Cape
Cross [Ire]) to take his place and will be on the now-customary weather watch
for the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), Eclipse S. (Eng-G1)
and Juddmonte International (Eng-G1) winner in the lead-up to the weekend. Rain
Monday at the venue caused his conditioner to take a pessimistic stance towards
his stable star’s participation.
“All is well with the horse,” Oxx told PA Sport. “He came out of his last
race in good shape and I couldn’t be happier with him. It has been raining away
here all morning, though, and the forecast for the rest of the week is not in
our favor. The rest of the week is showery and the showers could be heavy at
times, so we just have to hope that Leopardstown misses the rain that is
forecast for the area as a whole. If we miss the weekend, we will prepare him
for the (Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe [Fr-G1]) and see what the ground is like
there.”
Dermot Weld has left in Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-G1) winner CASUAL CONQUEST
(Hernando [Fr]) and FAMOUS NAME (Dansili [GB]).
“We’ll see what happens in the week,” Weld said. “Leopardstown is a great
drying track and I won’t be surprised if the ground is beautiful on Saturday.”
One notable name missing Monday was Doctor Fremantle (Sadler’s Wells), who
has met with a setback in training.
“He had a tiny issue with a foot, which meant that he missed a bit of work,”
Juddmonte Racing Manager Teddy Grimthorpe told PA Sport. “It was nothing too
serious and he is fine now, but it means he won’t run this weekend.”
Track officials estimated that Monday’s rainfall might have turned the ground
from “good, good-to-firm in places” to “good to yielding” and added that a
further update would be available Tuesday.