Major race entries 2008: Derby | Oaks | Coronation Cup

Classic countdown, w/c: 7 April | 14 April | 21 April | 28 April | 5 May | 12 May | 19 May | 26 May

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Sunday 25 May 2008

Jim Bolger has revealed that New Approach is still on course for the Irish Derby, but won't be risked on firm ground, as he encountered in the Irish 2000 Guineas, again.

Bolger told PA Sport: "He was out this morning for a hack-canter, he was fresh and well and was moving well. We got away with it yesterday, but I wouldn't risk him on that ground again.

"I'm not sure how much it's affected my happiness but it's not the sort of ground we should have had on Guineas Day. If we don't get good ground for the Irish Derby then he won't be turning up."

Ground conditions will also determine whether Lush Lashes runs in the Oaks, with the handler saying: "If we get good ground, then it's quite possible she will turn up at Epsom. I'm not telling anybody what to do though and I don't interfere in the internal affairs of a foreign country. If the word firm appears anywhere in the going description there is no chance she will run."

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Saturday 24 May 2008

Dual Guineas winner Henrythenavigator is as low as 4-1 for the Derby after Aidan O'Brien made clear that the Epsom Classic remains a real possibility for the colt after his Curragh win.

O'Brien said on Saturday: "He is a very classy horse, he has fantastic speed. All the horses are coming forward from their first runs and obviously he has as well. All the options are open to him. He is still in the Derby, that is an option as well as Royal Ascot (St James's Palace). The boss will make that decision. He is a very classy horse. He has relaxed, quickened and done everything right.

"The lad who rides him every day said before Newmarket that he is a mile-and-a-quarter horse on the dirt, but some of the other lads said he is very fast and Johnny always thought a mile would be very easy to him.

"All the options are open, but most Kingmambo horses stay well and he is out of a Sadler's Wells mare.

"The Derby is very much in the picture. He is a definite possible as he is fit and well and handles all of the things.He is very solid an hacked down to the start very good.

"He has a devastating turn of foot and that is what makes the good horses special."

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Wednesday 21 May 2008

Ibn Khaldun will not run in the Group One Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday.

The three-year-old colt worked on Wednesday morning and pleased the Godolphin team but will be given a bit more time. A decision will be made next week with regard to his next target.

Luca Cumani reckons he has Curtain Call in peak condition ahead of his engagement at Epsom. The trainer told his websitelucacumani.com: "As a consequence of not being able to run at Lingfield we now have the difficult task of keeping him at his peak rather than building him back up after a run.

"Fortunately he is good at demonstrating his wellbeing and seems to be a horse that can take plenty of work and thrives on it. He looks in peak condition, his coat immaculate and while he may not be a very tall horse, he is incredibly muscular.

"In his demeanour he is showing the right signs, irrepressibly fresh and pleased with himself in spite of the amount of work he has had."

Columnist Ian Carnaby has cas his eye over the form of the leading Derby contenders and reckons Casual Conquest looks easily the best of a weak bunch.

The Hernando colt might not line up at Epsom, though. Pat Cosgrove of Moyglare Stud told The Times yesterday: “It is a hard one to call. All jockeys love to ride at Epsom, but Pat Smullen is not over-enthused about going there. After he won the Leopardstown race, Pat said that the course might not suit because Casual Conquest is a big horse.”

“[Work rider] Pat Shanahan is a great judge,” Cosgrove continued. “And he feels that maybe the horse does not have the experience for Epsom. One thing in his favour is that both his wins came on left-handed tracks like Epsom.

“He will gallop right-handed next week, and if he goes well we will know that the French Derby and Irish Derby [both on right-handed tracks] should also suit him.”

Trainer Dermot Weld said on At The Races: "I won't make a decision at the moment as there is no pressure to make a decision, we're not entered in the race. In my opinion the entry system is wrong. It's not to do with the supplementing but with the entry stages and the payments.

"We'll wait and see how he works next week. There's no urgency, there's no rush. He's in the French Derby and he's a big horse, he's 16.3 hands and he's only run twice. We'll review everything and see how he is next week."

Weld also had news of exciting Dalakhani filly Chinese White, an Oaks entry: "Again, there is no definite decision with her and all I said was that she was unlikely to go. She works next week and then we'll make a call."

Mick Channon has not yet confirmed Nahoodh for Sunday's Irish 1000 Guineas. The filly was trapped on the rail in the Newmarket Classic and finsihed what looked an unlucky fifth. Channon also has Nijoom Dubai and Evas Request entered at the Curragh and will run one or two of the trio.

Of Nahoodh, her jockey Richard Hughes told the Racing Post: “Nahoodh will have a good chance. I think people got a bit carried away in the Guineas, and I thought I would have won on the day if Ihad got the gap up the rail, but I wasn't going to win anything at the two-pole.

“It is going to be a tough race no matter what, but she will have a live chance provided the ground is quick.

"If the ground is soft, her chances will diminish. A good galloping track will suit her as well, although I think the time of the Guineas in England is always faster than the Irish one.”

Nahoodh and surprise entry Lush Lashes, Jim Bolger's Musidora winner, are vying for favouritism at around the 7-2 mark.

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Monday 19 May 2008

Roger Charlton is hopeful of a big run in the Juddmonte Oaks from his Swettenham Stud Fillies' Trial winner Clowance, a 12-1 chance with bookmakers. He told At The Races: "She's done everything we've asked of her. Montjeu's can be complicated and there haven't been very many good Montjeu fillies.

"They can be small and sweaty but she is a well-balanced and tough filly and I'd say her temperament is good and she stays well. Whether she's good enough we'll find out but there is always a debate as you get to an Oaks or a Derby as to whether horses stay. It isn't a definite that some of these horses will stay, but Clowance will. She should have a good chance of being in the first four."

Charlton also confirmed that his impressive seven-length Nottingham maiden winner Melodramatic will not contest the Irish 1000 Guineas on Sunday. Charlton said: "She's unlike most by Sadler's Wells in that she's not a real mile-and-a-half type, but she may stay 10 furlongs.

"With her pedigree it's very important for us to try to find Listed or Group Three races for her but there isn't much at a mile. We'd possibly be looking at Newbury's mile-and-a-quarter fillies' Listed race, which is the week before Royal Ascot. The Sandringham Handicap at Ascot is for fillies rated 96-110 and she's currently rated 98, so that's a possible."

Owner Matthew Green has paid the supplementary fee of €40,000 to enter Stubbs Art in Saturday's Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh. The colt was third to Henrythenavigator and New Approach in the Newmarket Classic.

Henrythenavigator heads Aidan O'Brien's five entries, which also inlcude Jupiter Pluvius, Minneapolis, One Great Cat and Windsor Palace.

Jim Bolger runs New Approach and the unraced Luminaire. The trainer told the Racing Post that the latter is not a pacemaker: “I'd be hoping he'll finish in the first four, as this horse is running on his own rights."

Of New Approach, the trainer added: “If he's as well as I am, he'll run, and the ground will not matter. The going is not a concern."

Bookmakers have made New Approach 13-8 favourite for the race, marginally ahead of Henrythenavigator at 7-4.

Fast Company has suffered an injury and will not run in the immediate future. Godolphin's racing manager Simon Crisford said: "Fast Company has sustained a soft tissue injury and will require time off. All future plans are on hold."

Clive Brittain won the Italian 1000 Guineas with Love Of Dubai on Sunday and he plans to run her in the German 1000 Guineas next if the ground is suitable.

Bruce Raymond, racing director for owners Rabbah Bloodstock, told the Rabbah Bloodsotck website: "She has justified the faith Clive Brittain has always had in her. He has long considered that she would win a Group race.

"She had been working beforehand under Darryll, who was adamant that she needed to be held up in her races. Those tactics proved effective yesterday as she has quickened clear and won going away.

"We were delighted to see her win in the style of a classy filly and her next possible assignment is the German 1000 Guineas in Dusseldorf on June 1, although she wouldn't want it soft."