Irish Derby Festival: Saturday tips for The Curragh
Electric can power to Railway Stakes glory
King Electric is on an upward curve and looks the answer to the Group 2 Railway Stakes at The Curragh (16:40).
The Ger Lyons trained colt shaped with plenty of promise when runner-up in his first two starts before opening his account in good style when beating Peace Envoy by 1/2 a length in a 5f contest at this venue.
King Electric then relished the step up to 6f when following up in impressive fashion at Naas.
Most taking performance
After travelling strongly throughout on the heels of the leader, the son of Elzaam took up the runing three from home an stretched clear inside the last to win by 4 1/2 lengths.
It was a most taking performance, and the way in which King Electric put the race to bed with a smart turn of foot marked him out as above average.
This represents a big step up in class, but King Electric is clearly going the right way and can take it in his stride.
Botany Bay to bloom under Moore
In the 2m handicap (18:00), Botany Bay looks decent value to land the spoils.
Trained by the shrewd Charles O’Brien, the gelding caught the eye on seasonal reappearance when staying on from an impossible position to finish a never nearer 10th over an inadequate 1m 4f at Leopardstown.
Botany Bay went on to post a solid effort to finish third of 11 to Jennies Jewel over course and distance, and the winner has since gone on to follow-up at Royal Ascot to give the form a boost.
Well weighted on pick of form
The four-year-old then ran as well as could be expected when fourth of five to top stayer Order Of St George in a Listed contest at Naas when last seen in action, and will appreciate the drop back into handicap company.
Botany Bay is also now able to race off a rating of 86, and that is 1lb lower than when he finished a fine 3/4 length fourth of 16 to Polarisation in the ultra-competitive Melrose Stakes at York’s Ebor Meeting last season.
It gives the son of Galileo major claims at the weights, and the the fact that connections have secured the services of Ryan Moore to do the steering for the third time this season suggests they mean business.
Selections
15.00: Intelligence Cross
15.35: Hasanour
16.05: Foxtrot Charlie
16.40: King Electric (NAP)
17.20: Harzand
18.00: Botany Bay (NB)
18.30: Maarek
19.00: Hazmiyra
Related
You’ll find more horse racing betting tips from the Irish Derby Festival on our Curragh page.
