In Finnegans Wake

With the rain-softened ground threatening to exclude Buratino (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) from Saturday’s G2 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack S. at York, the way is open for one of the unexposed brigade to step up to the plate, and the most intriguing is the Wes Ward challenger Finnegan (Ire) (Unbridled’s Song). Ruled out of a tilt at the June 16 G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot after suffering a bout of colic the morning of the race, the impressive May 16 Pimlico maiden special weight winner has shown his trainer enough at home to suggest he has the requisite class. “He has breezed right with the filly [Acapulco]–both of them in hand in their last few breezes,” Ward said. “But every work, they work together. They’re certainly at three-quarter speed, so it’s tough to judge which one is better of the two. It is a shame he didn’t get a chance to run in the Coventry. I think he was going to fire a cracker that day.” Buratino, who dominated the Coventry, has since been toppled off his perch when third in the G1 Phoenix S. on ground that had been compromised by rain at The Curragh Aug. 9, and connections are keen to avoid a repeat. “At the moment, Buratino is not a certain runner, having put his defeat in Ireland down to slow ground,” Charlie Johnston, son and assistant to Mark Johnston, explained. “The plan is to take him to the track. We will walk the track and evaluate the ground. If there is any more rain overnight and the ground is good-to-soft, he is probably unlikely to run. If the ground was good or faster then he would take a hell of a lot of beating. Given what we know now, we are keen to avoid soft ground for the rest of the season. It is a tough decision to make, but we have got to do what is right by the horse.”

With William Haggas’s team in outstanding form this week, respect is due to his pair of contenders headed by Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar’s Ajaya (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Second in the G2 Prix Robert Papin over 5 1/2 furlongs at Maisons-Laffitte last time July 26, he has stronger form claims than his unbeaten stable companion Raucous (GB) (Dream Ahead), but the latter will be suited by any further rain after winning on soft at Sandown June 12 and at Newmarket July 25. “The ground was a bit too soft for Ajaya in France, but Graham Gibbons really liked him when he won at York and I think he’ll run well,” their trainer said. “Raucous maybe isn’t quite ready for a test like this. He will be a nice horse in time, but this might just come too soon.”