The 2016 Horse of the Year Minding brings both star appeal and Ryan Moore to the bank holiday Monday action at Naas.
Moore has five rides on the card and will be hoping for better fortune than on his last Irish visit just over three weeks ago.
Then he failed to score in a dozen rides over a weekend’s action including getting beaten on another star Group One Ballydoyle filly, Alice Springs, here at Naas.
The track now hosts another prestige card transferred from the Curragh due to the restricted season at HQ while redevelopment work continues.
The Group 2 Camelot Mooresbridge Stakes boasts an impressive roll of honour including the triple-classic winner from the race title in 2013 and the Arc heroine Found a year ago.
However even Found couldn’t prevent her stable companion from topping the votes for Horse of the Year after a superb 2016.
Following a juvenile championship that included two Group One victories, Minding added five more top-flight wins last year, traversing the distance spectrum from a mile to a mile and a half and back again.
Aidan O’Brien brings his exceptional filly back at a mile and a quarter here and reported: “She is just ready to start off her season and the Mooresbridge looks like a nice starting point.”
Given how Ballydoyle horses often progress significantly from their first starts of the season, Minding faces no straightforward task in a five runner race that also includes her Group 1 winning stable companion Johannes Vermeer.
On figures Moonlight Magic is a realistic contender too but if Minding can bring something even approaching her A-Game then she should score.
Moore is on Elizabeth Browning in the Group 3 Athasi Stakes, although this looks a good opportunity for another three year old Rehana, while his presence on Dali rather than Roly Poly’s brother US Navy Flag in the two year maiden will sway many punters.
Peace Envoy gives weight away in the Listed Tetrarch Stakes and the Prix Morny third could face a difficult task in his first start of the season. Ger Lyons’s Noivado looks a value alternative to the Ballydoyle runner.
