Amazingly, Aidan O'Brien has enjoyed only one of his dozen winners of the G2 GAIN Railway S. in the past seven years, but looks to have a strong contender to regain the thread in Saturday's renewal at The Curragh. Derrick Smith's Murillo (Scat Daddy) was a staying-on third in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot on June 20 and offers the first real litmus test of the quality of that edition. Also joined by Sunday's Gowran Park maiden winner Rostropovich (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), he is met again by the Coventry eighth De Bruyne Horse (GB) (Showcasing {GB}). Like the 2014 Railway winner Kool Kompany (Ire) (Jeremy), the fellow Middleham Park Racing and Richard Hannon representative is looking to bounce back from a disappointing effort in that Royal Ascot juvenile highlight. “Going into the Coventry I would have been disappointed to finish third or fourth, to be honest, and he finished eighth, but at the end of the day he was beaten less than three lengths,” Middleham Park's racing manager Tim Palin said. “We rode him like a proper horse on the day and held him up and maybe we would have been better riding him closer to the pace. When he won at Ripon and Epsom, he just ground them into submission and in many ways he reminds me of Kool Kompany. He came out of Ascot as well as can be expected and was as fresh as a daisy on Monday morning. He's travelled over to Ireland and travelled over well, so we're hopeful, but he does need to bounce back. The plan will be to go forward instead of giving him a push-button ride.” Jim Bolger puts forward Verbal Dexterity (Ire) (Vocalised), who earned 'TDN Rising Star' status with his 9 1/2-length success over seven furlongs on soft ground here on June 10, while the Gordon Elliott-trained course-and-distance maiden winner Beckford (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) has his first start for new owners Newtown Anner Stud Farm.
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