The absence of Epsom Derby hero City Of Troy, probably the most exciting horse in training, takes plenty of the gloss away from the Curragh showpiece, with Aidan O’Brien’s star three-year-old instead heading to Sandown for next week’s Coral-Eclipse.
You can hardly blame O’Brien as he has been propping up the Irish Derby for the guts of the last two decades, and he even runs half the field at the Kildare track to pad out the numbers.
There is very little wow factor for the biggest race of the Irish Flat calendar, though, and it has taken the supplementation of British raider Ambiente Friendly, at a cost of €100,000, to add intrigue for punters.
Ambiente Friendly was second in the Epsom equivalent earlier this month and James Fanshawe immediately made it known that this was his target as they bid to go one better.
The Gleneagles colt is a worthy favourite, albeit very skinny around even money, but that’s as much to do with the perceived dearth of quality involved as much as anything, and Rob Havlin’s mount should be firmly in the mix when it matters most.
Matsuri also makes the trip from the UK for Roger Varian but it would be some training performance if James Doyle’s mount can prevail having only raced in three novice events, the last of which he won impressively in Leicester last month.
O’Brien is bidding for a sweet 16 in the Irish Classic and he saddles a quartet led by Epsom third Los Angeles, with Ryan Moore in the plate on this occasion.
The son of Camelot is one of just two Group One winners in the field – the other is David Menuisier’s outsider Sunway – having landed the Criterium de Saint-Cloud as a juvenile.
Los Angeles has just over three lengths to find on Ambiente Friendly but there are plenty of reasons to make the case why that could materialise given that he was sweating and fractious before flag fall at Epsom.
While losing his unbeaten status that day, he still performed with great credit given the circumstances – and Moore’s mount is taken to turn the tables and land another milestone for the all-conquering Ballydoyle maestro.
The Curragh, now under the stewardship of former HRI chief Brian Kavanagh, is clearly trying something different to attract punters with a nine-race card a new initiative.
Whether it can boost ailing numbers is another story, with the 35 minutes between the majority of the races making it more of a marathon than a sprint; the action kicks off at 1.10 and finishes nearly five hours later.
One of the best bets of the card comes in the second race as the two-year-olds strut their stuff in the Group Two GAIN Railway Stakes (1.40).
O’Brien saddles the market leaders as Moore sides with Tunbridge Wells, which took a maiden here earlier this month, while Wayne Lordan partners another course and distance winner Henri Matisse.
Both have the potential to improve significantly given their inexperience but preference is for the teak-tough Arizona Blaze, another course and distance winner.
Adrian Murray’s charge ran a corker when third in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot last time out – racing alone on that occasion – and David Egan can have a triumphant return to his native Newbridge on the Sergei Prokofiev colt.