A wonderful spectacle awaits

By Alan Conway

Any classic day is special. Whenever you can see the best of the classic division lining up against each other is a good day. This Sunday however, promises to be something extra special as the Curragh plays host to the Darley Irish Oaks. The line up for this year’s race gives us hope that we could see one of the races of the season.

Three separate classic winners are scheduled to run on Sunday and not one of them is even the favourite. Blue Bunting carries the hopes of Godolphin, Misty For Me will be one of two arrows fired by Ballydoyle while Dancing Rain comes into the race as the Epsom heroine after her pillar to post win in the Investec Oaks.

At 20/1 Dancing Rain was not many people’s idea of the 2011 Oaks winner yet she won in a fashion that suggests she had more left in reserve than the official winning distance of three parts of a length.

Yet the horse that everyone wants to be with is the runner up at Epsom, Wonder Of Wonders. The beautifully bred Kingmambo filly has certainly come a long way since she finished down the field in an early season maiden at Leopardstown.

She progressed from a maiden win to a Group success at Chester before only narrowly failing to catch Dancing Rain who benefitted from a soft lead and an expertly judged ride from the front by Johnny Murtagh.

Wonder Of Wonders was the only filly to get near Dancing Rain that day at Epsom and the feeling is that she will be more suited to the Curragh than the twists and turns at Epsom. If she has progressed mentally from her run in the Oaks then the long galloping course at the Curragh could be the deciding factor in her reversing places with Dancing Rain.

However to dismiss the Oaks as a two horse race would be wildly inaccurate. Godolphin are hoping that their Qipco 1000 Guineas Blue Bunting can atone for her disappointing and controversial run in the Epsom Oaks where she looked set for third place until jockey Frankie Dettori dropped his hands and allowed Izzy Top to grab third spot.

Allowing for her poor Epsom run Blue Bunting is a live contender on Sunday. However backing her comes with the knowledge that to many people she didn’t appear to get the trip at Epsom. In the same way that Carlton House hit the invisible 1m 2f wall at the Curragh three weeks ago the same could very well happen Blue Bunting this weekend.

The one horse that could put it up to the top two in the market could well be the Jim Bolger trained Banimpire. The Holy Roman Emperor filly has certainly been kept busy by her trainer this season and she has rewarded him with some notable wins in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown and the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Sunday will be the first time she will have run since Royal Ascot and that break could help her run into a place behind Wonder Of Wonders in what should be a race to savour and a race where Aidan O’Brien can land his fourth Irish classic this season.

By Alan Conway