Weekly Wrap With Chris McGrath

It was as though masterpieces by Rembrandt and Warhol were hung up side by side. As the shock of the new, on Sunday, there was Adrian Keatley's astounding breakthrough with Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire})–especially shocking, you fancy, to the filly's previous owners, who discarded a future Classic winner for 12,000 guineas last autumn. But it was over that same great canvas, The Curragh of Kildare, that Kevin Prendergast had the previous day reminded everyone how there is nothing quite like an old master.

Half a century divides the two trainers, but they will remain incongruously coupled in the memory after a meeting that warmed the heart from the moment the venerable Mrs. Stockwell led a homebred filly into the winner's enclosure after its opening race. Even for the 83-year-old Prendergast, however, the sport remains all about looking ahead. And we now have the prospect of a momentous showdown at Royal Ascot between two colts who landed such clean knock-outs in Classics within a week of each other: The Gurkha (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at Deauville the previous Sunday, and Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas.

Having beaten a previous Classic winner in Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}), Awtaad would for now be credited with the substance and The Gurkha with the style. Not that Awtaad was remotely lacking in panache, swaggering powerfully into contention as an agitated Frankie Dettori squeezed Galileo Gold through on the rail. On the other hand, Awtaad has yet to run on fast going and does seem to put a fair bit bone and brawn into his action.

It is being suggested that Galileo Gold did not relish the deteriorating conditions, albeit cut in the ground had been thought to aid his cause before Newmarket. Either way he emerged with plenty of credit, showing a fine attitude and drawing well clear of the rest. No mischief is intended, despite connections having tied themselves into such knots over a possible Derby tilt, in suggesting that he shaped as though he might at least be worth trying over 10 furlongs soon. As it is, he will nonetheless remain a welcome third dimension to what could be a vintage running of the G1 St James's Palace S.

Air of Desperation…

Things meanwhile go from bad to worse for Air Force Blue (War Front). If anything, the champion juvenile regressed from his tepid reappearance at Newmarket when similarly disappointing behind Awtaad. This time, he sweated up and refused to settle, giving himself no chance of getting home regardless of conditions inimical to the dash he showed last year. Sprinting would seem to offer his only chance of redemption now, but the difference in him this spring has been unnerving. There is froth, but no effervescence. At the moment he is like a hangover without the high.

The race did offer some encouragement for his stable, however, in the performance of Bravery (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Having chased home none other than Awtaad on his debut last autumn, he was fast-tracked straight from a maiden success this spring to a Classic and could be seen learning through the race, short of room before keeping on steadily for fourth. Out of a Rainbow Quest mare, he will surely be a different proposition over middle distances. Conceivably he may yet prove a feasible outsider for the G1 Investec Derby itself, albeit connections may decide that Epsom would be too much, too soon, and wait for Ascot.

Minding's Fuel Gauge Could Enter the Red…

The sponsors of the G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas could hardly have expected to advertise their Horses-in-Training Sale through a Classic, but Aidan O'Brien was characteristically gracious in crediting Keatley's hardy little filly as a deserving winner on the day. Certainly nobody could sensibly be disappointed by the odds-on defeat of Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) after she had pulled as many as 10 lengths clear of the third.

Minding confirmed that she has discipline as well as brilliance and put in a sterling run, the adrenaline of her duel evidently securing her against distraction by the cuts sustained to her head in the gate. Nonetheless it was always asking for trouble coming here–as an 11th hour substitute for a sidelined stablemate–just a dozen days before the G1 Investec Oaks, and she has ended up having to absorb a pretty hard race.

Any loss of her edge in class could become a major issue at Epsom, where her stamina is surely in more doubt than has been generally accounted. Her top-class dam Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) was never asked to race beyond a mile but Lillie Langtry's half-brother by the sturdy Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) (Danehill) reverted to that trip after fading late in both his attempts at longer distances. Minding herself won her maiden over just six furlongs last year and her full-sister, How (Ire), showed tons of speed in the maiden over that trip won by Mrs. Stockwell's very promising Brave Anna (War Front) on Saturday. Galileo can cover a multitude of sins, of course, but Minding may not have the biggest fuel tank in the world–and she has not got much time to fill it again, regardless, after her generous effort on Sunday.

Lost and Found….

All three of the Group 1 races at The Curragh proved rather chastening for the Ballydoyle team, 'TDN Rising Star' Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) being comprehensively outpointed by Fascinating Rock (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. The winner, a great barrel organ of a horse, evidently takes plenty of conditioning and made due improvement for his comeback spin, against Found three weeks previously, to confirm the form of their meeting at Ascot last autumn.

Fascinating Rock, having had that vast frame to fill, is entitled to be entering his prime at five. It is just a pity that a yielding surface is so imperative, setting a corresponding limit on the sense of adventure that usually animates his trainer, Dermot Weld. Found is more versatile, but a fairly meek submission here increases the suspicion that her biggest dividends may await back over the trip of her success in the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf.

The most heartening moment of her owners' weekend was almost certainly the impressive success of Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) in a listed sprint on Saturday. Under a typically educational Ryan Moore ride, he looked the sharpest juvenile seen in Ireland to date and proceeds to Ascot with a momentous burden. Success there would qualify Caravaggio as an eligible heir to his sire, whose sudden death last winter came as such a ghastly shock to Ashford. And that would make him as priceless as any old master.