Head Turner

She may have seemed an unlikely Classic prospect after three off-the-board efforts at two, but Susan Magnier’s Curvy (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) is firmly in the hot seat as she brings a four-race winning sequence into Saturday’s G1 Darley Irish Oaks at The Curragh.

After showing that she is pattern-race class when beating Giovanni Canaletto (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in this track’s G3 Gallinule S. over 10 furlongs May 24, the bay upstaged the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Pleascach (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) with something in hand in Royal Ascot’s G2 Ribblesdale S. at this distance June 18. One of Ireland’s most-improved performers in 2015, the homebred shows no sign of stopping yet.

“Curvy seems well and we are very happy with her, so we decided to take our chance in this,” trainer David Wachman commented. “She is a very straightforward filly who we have had no problems with. She has been improving from run to run and she will need to step up again if she is to win, as she is going from Group 2 to Group 1 level. I am not worried about the ground for her, as she has run on fast ground, good ground and slow ground, so she seems to handle anything. As for the trip, she won the Ribblesdale well but she has also won well over a mile and a quarter, so she seems pretty adaptable.”

Aidan O’Brien has won four renewals to date and based on the G1 Epsom Oaks shock of Qualify (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), it is not easy to decipher which is the leading protagonist. Ironically, it is the least-experienced of the quartet Words (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) who heads the betting among them, and the daughter of the 2008 winner Moonstone (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) has obviously been giving all the right signals at Ballydoyle. Her defeat of Thursday’s G3 Meld S. winner Carla Bianca (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) in the G3 Munster Oaks at Cork June 14 is notable, but it lacks the strength of the Epsom victory of Qualify (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and even the solidity of the G3 Musidora S. second placing of Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who also annexed last year’s G1 Fillies’ Mile.

Gerard Byrne’s Jack Naylor (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) was sixth to Qualify in the June 5 Epsom highlight, but otherwise boasts form which would put her in contention having beaten Curvy’s stable companion Legatissimo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and Together Forever in the Listed Flame of Tara S. over a mile here in August.

“She has had a nice break since the Oaks, as the Irish Guineas and English Oaks came quickly one after the other,” trainer Jessica Harrington commented. “She is not the biggest horse and when you watch the replay, she got bumped in the straight and just become unbalanced. The track at the Curragh will suit her better and she has won well there before, while we are hoping for a little bit of rain. We are very happy with her and she seems to be in good form and we are hoping for the best.”