Dunlop: Snow Fairy v Nathaniel still possible / Nelle Red Mills Irish Championship la possibile sfida tra Snow Fairy e Nathaniel

Snow Fairy

Snow Fairy: could face Nathaniel at Leopardstown next month

PICTURE: Caroline Norris , BY ANDREW SCUTTS & ANDREW DIETZ 7:22PM 27 AUG 2012

WHILE all the talk is of Frankel and which race he will contest next, a more immediate thrilling prospect is that of Snow Fairyv Nathaniel in the Red Mills Irish Champion Stakes on September 8.

It is a prospect still on the cards, according to Snow Fairy’s trainer Ed Dunlop, who netted two winners from his only two runners on Monday.

While underlining no final decision has been made as to where his popular multiple Group 1-winning mare will appear next,Dunlop said: “The Irish Champion is a possibility. She seems to have come out of France well so far and we will wait and see what the Irish weather does.

“We are due better weather next week so we’ll see how she is.”

Snow Fairy produced a gutsy display to win the Prix Jean Romanet under Ryan Moore at Deauville on August 19 on her return from injury, and she has options at Ascot and Longchamp as well as Leopardstown. Ryan Moore is the only jockey to have won a Group 1 on her but is now sidelined with a broken wrist.

Having been supplemented for the Irish Champion, Nathaniel was always more likely to head to Ireland than tackle Frankel in the Juddmonte International, but William Buick, Nathaniel’s in-form jockey, does not rule out the possibility of Nathaniel serving it up to the world’s highest-rated horse if they were to meet again in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot, which falls 13 days after the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

“I think the horse [Frankel] is probably unbeatable, but we’ve got a horse in Nathaniel who probably at some stage will have a go,” Buick said on At The Races.

“If Ascot came up testing and stamina came into it, he will definitely give him a run for his money. I think he is still the horse to get nearest to him and I think and I hope he can get even nearer.

“If stamina comes into it, I would be putting emphasis on that and try to find any chinks that Frankel does have – which he probably doesn’t – but you have to give it a go.”

Others entered for the Irish Champion, a race that has a habit of producing terrific finishes, include Cirrus Des Aigles, Imperial Monarch and Parish Hall.

 

6:45 p.m. (eng. time) Leopardstown (IRE), SAT 8 SEP 2012 

RED MILLS IRISH CHAMPION STAKES (GROUP 1) (3yo+), 1m2f Number of runners: 50
NO. DRAW HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER RTF% JOCKEY OR TS RPR
0 412-41 Akeed Mofeed34  3 9-0 John M Oxx — 109 128
0 3-1345 Astrology70  3 9-0 A P O´Brien — 123 132
0 72-435 Bible Belt16  4 9-4 Mrs John Harrington — 120 124
0 05422 Born To Sea27  3 9-0 John M Oxx — 121 132
0 11-111 Camelot70  3 9-0 A P O´Brien — 134 142
0 5-2112 Cirrus Des Aigles104  6 9-7 Mme C Barande-Barbe — 135 137
0 1-1155 Crackerjack King21  4 9-7 Marco Botti — 106 125
0 0-1P48 Daddy Long Legs21  3 9-0 A P O´Brien — 99 128
0 11- Declaration Of War267 3 9-0 A P O´Brien — — 115
0 312111 Famous Name27  7 9-7 D K Weld — 117 126
0 15-463d Farhaan21 3 9-0 John Dunlop — 97 119
0 0-0438 Heavy Weight86 3 9-0 J S Bolger — 70 84
0 1-181 Imperial Monarch56  3 9-0 A P O´Brien — 120 132
0 13-564 La Collina13 3 8-11 Kevin Prendergast — 103 119
0 11136 Light Heavy30  3 9-0 J S Bolger — 108 127
0 11242 Main Sequence17  3 9-0 David Lanigan — 124 132
0 4511-5 Manieree13  4 9-4 John M Oxx — 81 126
0 11-355 Maybe57  3 8-11 A P O´Brien — 107 125
0 13-418 Monterosso63  5 9-7 Mahmood Al Zarooni — 63 68
0 115-12 Nathaniel49  4 9-7 John Gosden — 130 134
0 357-33 Native Khan44 4 9-7 John M Oxx — 84 108
0 12821- Parish Hall336  3 9-0 J S Bolger — 123 132
0 8-3377 Planteur17  5 9-7 Marco Botti — 103 126
0 12-010 Power81  3 9-0 A P O´Brien — 121 131
0 8-1113 Princess Highway48  3 8-11 D K Weld — 123 135
0 0-3744 Reliable Man49  4 9-7 A De Royer-Dupre — 118 131
0 436008 Robin Hood17  4 9-7 A P O´Brien — 73 108
0 2331-1 Snow Fairy20  5 9-4 Ed Dunlop — 133 135
0 22133 St Nicholas Abbey17 5 9-7 A P O´Brien — 128 134
0 49546 Treasure Beach21  4 9-7 A P O´Brien — 111 126
0 0-2334 Twice Over17  7 9-7 Sir Henry Cecil — 123 127
0 211- Wading336 3 8-11 A P O´Brien — 124 129
0 165459 Windsor Palace17  7 9-7 A P O´Brien — 86 113

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