Saturday’s selections weren’t good enough to walk away with the goods, which was disappointing as I felt strongly about their chances.
My main selection Timeless Tale hit the front but ran out of petrol in the final one hundred yards and was nabbed late on.
National Pride was disappointing for the Haggas and Fallon combo. He never got going down the straight and it was a step back in the wrong direction after running with credit in his running prior to yesterday.
Giant Sequoia 10/3 – Curragh 4:00
My sole selection on Sunday comes in the shape of Giant Sequoia in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.
This is a seriously competitive Group 1 for the two-year-olds, but I’m siding with the Aidan O’Brien-trained colt to take another step forward and come out on top. Aiden runs three in this contest and Ryan Moore has opted for my selection over both Florida Bay and Haffner. Haffner arrives on the back of a Group 3 win under Ryan Moore at York recently. I really liked Haffner at York, he’s a big strapping horse with a lovely stride but I think it speaks volumes that Ryan has opted for Giant Sequoia over him this time around.
Giant Sequoia has already shown that he handles the Curragh extremely well, and that is a major positive heading into Sunday’s contest. His most recent victory came over this exact course and distance in the Group 2 Futurity Stakes, where he got the better of Florida Bay by half a length.
The winning margin doesn’t immediately jump off the page, but I wouldn’t read too much into it. Giant Sequoia was still relatively inexperienced and was having to deal with a significant step up in class in that contest. What jumped out to me after watching a replay was the fact he found enough when it mattered and showed a good attitude to win a good Group race.
Giant Sequoia has now won his last two starts and his progression has been noticeable. After being beaten on debut, he quickly put that disappointment behind him before winning his next two races, with the latest success coming at Group 2 level.
I think there’s more to come from Aiden O’Briens charge and he should be bang there at the finish.
GambleAware