Lyons runner on track for Railway Stakes
The Ger Lyons-trained Siskin will look to maintain an unbeaten record when lining up in the GAIN Railway Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday.
It will be one of the most exciting two-year-old races of the season takes place at the Curragh on Saturday with Siskin and Monarch Of Egypt set to square off in the Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes.
The two highly rated colts are both unbeaten with the Ger Lyons-trained Siskin having impressed on his debut at Naas before then landing the Listed Marble Hill Stakes here last month.
The Khalid Abdullah-owned son of First Defence will be bidding to give Lyons and jockey Colin Keane their second win in this race.
"He is in great shape," Lyons reported.
"He has ran twice and won twice and could have gone to Ascot last week, but the powers that be tell me that the faster the ground is the better. He is very, very straightforward and the drying forecast should mean there is beautiful ground," added Lyons.
Monarch Of Egypt, from the first crop of the Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, created a big impression when scoring on his debut at Naas in April.
A victory for Monarch Of Egypt would see Aidan O’Brien join the late Vincent O’Brien as the most successful trainer in the race’s history with 14 victories.
DERBY
Three training legends will clash for the first time in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby which has thrown up the unusual fact that Jim Bolger, Kevin Prendergast and Dermot Weld will each have a runner in the Irish Derby.
Between the three hugely respected legendary trainers they can boast 147 years of training experience with Prendergast hoping to finally break his duck in the Irish Derby with Madhmoon.
Prendergast took out his licence in 1963 and will turn 87 next Friday.
The Curragh-based son of legendary trainer 'Darkie' Prendergast most recently enjoyed Classic success with Awtaad in 2016.
Jim Bolger relies on Guaranteed in the Irish Derby this year but may be filled by confidence as the colt is following a similar path as the stable's 2013 winner Trading Leather.
Trading Leather won the Silver Stakes en route to winning the Irish Derby and Guaranteed was victorious in the same Curragh contest earlier this month.
Bolger began his training career in 1976 and his first Irish Derby winner St Jovite in 1992 has held onto the track record at the Curragh ever since.
Give Thanks in the 1983 Irish Oaks was the first of six Irish classic victories for the Wexford native.
Weld is the closest trainer to the Curragh and his career began slightly earlier than Bolger's when he took out a trainer's licence in 1972 while still riding as an accomplished amateur jockey.
Ireland's winngmost trainer surpassed the 4,000-winner milestone in 2016 and has three Irish Derby's to his name, along with 15 other Irish classic winners to have passed through his hands.
Weld's first Irish Derby winner was Zagreb in 1996 and Grey Swallow in 2004 and the English/Irish Derby double winner Harzand in 2016 have also won the most prestigious race in Ireland. Rakan will be his representative on Saturday afternoon.
Aidan O'Brien is the fourth trainer to be represented in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby this year and he will seek a 13th success in the race when saddling Anthony Van Dyck, Broome, Il Paradiso, Norway and Sovereign.
In the Group 3 Dubai Duty Free Full Of Surprises International Stakes William Haggas has declared Addeybb which will be looking to build on last week’s victory in the Listed Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The high class five-year-old will take on a field that includes the Group 3-winning Normandel, the Gallinule Stakes second Buckhurst and the very promising Georgeville.
Speak In Colours, which ran so well at Group 1 level at Royal Ascot last week, is the headline act in the Listed Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship Dash Stakes where his rivals include Gordon Lord Byron.
Tom Hogan's stable star will be having his 99th racecourse start tomorrow in a career that is into a 10th season.
GOING THERE
The ground is currently described as good on the straight course and good, good to firm in places on the round course.
Details of admission prices and discounted offers can be found at www.curragh.ie. Children under 18 that are accompanied by an adult go racing for free.
TELEVISION
Live coverage of Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby to be shown in more than 80 countries
Live coverage of Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, from The Curragh Racecourse, will be shown by broadcasters
in more than 80 countries.
Racecourse Media Group (RMG), the media rights organisation which produces and distributes top-class horseracing
around the world, working with Horse Racing Ireland and The Curragh, have generated widespread interest in the €1.5m race.
Broadcasters include the likes of ESPN (Latin America), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, TVG (US), Sky (Australia) and National Sports Channel (Russia).
Derek McGrath, CEO of The Curragh Racecourse, said: “We are very excited to be hosting the first Dubai Duty Free
Irish Derby in our newly redeveloped Curragh venue.
“The new facility, built at a cost of €81m, now offers viewing and hospitality options that rival the best in the world. The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby is building towards a very competitive race over the mile and a half Derby track, which is preserved for the race each year. We congratulate RMG on securing such a broad global audience for the race.”
Broadcasters in North and South America, plus the Caribbean, include TVG (US); CBC, HPI (Canada); ESPN (Latin America, Caribbean) and SportsMax (Caribbean). Europe will be served by RTE (ROI), Racing TV (UK, Republic of Ireland); TV Poland, National Sports Channel (Russia); SilkNet (Georgia); Arena Sport 1 & 2 (Slovakia and Czech Republic), Equidia (France) and TV Sports (Norway, Sweden, Denmark).
Australasia is covered by Sky Racing / Thoroughbred Central (Australia), plus Trackside (New Zealand).
Tellytrack will broadcast in South Africa, while 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region
will be served by live coverage from the Dubai Racing Channel.