Two days of championship jumps racing at Leopardstown — Ireland’s pre-Cheltenham trials weekend.
There are races where you sense a horse is quietly building towards something special, and this seven-furlong contest for fillies and mares at Leopardstown has that feeling. Worth just over forty thousand pounds and run at Group 3 level, it sits at the serious end of the sport without quite being the biggest stage — which makes it exactly the kind of race where an ambitious trainer sends a talented horse to prove she belongs among the elite. With ten runners declared on a left-handed track under normal conditions, the scene is set for a proper test.
City Of Memphis arrives as the one everyone is watching. Trained by P Twomey and ridden by W J Lee, she has won twice from just three races, which tells you how rapidly she has progressed. Last spring she bolted up at Cork in a way that suggested something out of the ordinary, and rather than take the easy route, the yard sent her straight into the deep end for the Irish 1,000 Guineas — the biggest fillies' race in the country. She finished fifth behind Lake Victoria, beaten about four and a half lengths despite running a little keenly, which for a young horse in such elevated company is genuinely impressive. After a long break she came back to win at Gowran, looking every inch a horse with bigger days ahead. The market agrees, rating her the clear favourite at three to two.
Carla Ridge is the one the form students will want onside. Trained by Eddie and Patrick Harty, she has won twice from nine races and has been placed in five others, showing real consistency at the top level. Last season she ended her campaign by winning a Listed race at the Curragh by ten lengths, a performance described as a stylish career best. She has run well in Group 3 company before and the ratings actually place her as the highest-rated horse in the field, three pounds clear of her rivals. The price of just over five to one reflects genuine quality rather than wishful thinking.
Princess Child, trained by Joseph O'Brien and ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle, is one of the more interesting characters in the race. She has run fourteen times and wins roughly one in seven, but her trajectory has been consistently upward. Last season she landed a competitive race at Galway, then stepped up to win at Group 3 level at Tipperary, and followed that with a creditable fourth in a Group 2 in France. Most recently she finished second in a Group 3 at the Curragh, which suggests she arrives here with plenty of confidence and form behind her.
Signora carries the familiar green and gold of trainer Aidan O'Brien, saddled this time by Wayne Lordan. She has won once from five races but has placed four times, and her trainer has spoken warmly about how well she acquitted herself on her most recent outing at Naas. Snellen, trained by Gavin Cromwell, brings the most experience to the race with fifteen outings behind her including a Group win at Royal Ascot back in 2023, though her last run came over a year ago and the question marks around her sharpness on reappearance are real.
The smart money is firmly on City Of Memphis, and it is not hard to see why. A horse who held her own against the best in Ireland as a young and relatively inexperienced runner, now returning with a win under her belt, is exactly the profile of a horse ready to take the next step. If she settles better than she did in the Guineas and produces what she showed at Gowran, she will take a great deal of beating.
There are races where the question is not who will win, but how easily they will do it. The Saval Beg Levmoss Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday is one of those occasions, and it is worth watching precisely because the horse at the centre of it all is something genuinely special.
Scandinavia arrives here as one of the most accomplished staying horses in training. Last season he won the Goodwood Cup and then the St Leger at Doncaster, two of the most prestigious long-distance prizes in the calendar, and he has not stopped since. He comes into this on a run of four straight wins, and his trainer Aidan O'Brien is making no secret of his ambitions, describing him as a big, long-striding horse who they are delighted with and pointing him firmly towards another summer campaign over long distances. At odds of 1/5, the bookmakers are essentially treating this as a formality. He also carries a substantial advantage over his rivals in terms of official ratings. For those unfamiliar with how racing works, that gap is the equivalent of a sprinter facing club runners — the class difference is measurable, not just a matter of opinion.
The most interesting challenger on paper is Leinster, trained by Joseph O'Brien and ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle. He has shown a genuine liking for the Curragh track in the past and has genuine experience at this sort of trip. His recent form has not been spectacular, but horses can arrive at a new season with a fresh wind, and at 9/1 he at least gives the market some shape.
Happy Pharoah is worth a mention for the local angle. Trained by Donnacha O'Brien and running at Leopardstown, where he has won three times from four visits, he clearly loves the track. However, his recent form has tailed off, and there is a long way between loving a venue and being able to live with a horse of Scandinavia's quality on it.
Dallas Star is a horse whose trainer has genuine ambitions for him over long distances, targeting a crack at the Queen Alexandra at Royal Ascot. He is consistent enough, placing in several of his recent runs, and this could be a useful stepping stone for him. Le Destrier, trained by the masterful Willie Mullins, completes the field and should not be entirely ignored simply because of his odds, though his chance of upsetting the favourite looks remote.
Leopardstown is a wide, sweeping left-handed track that suits a big horse who can stride out smoothly, and normal ground has been forecast, which is ideal. The race will almost certainly play out as an exhibition for Scandinavia, but watching a top-class horse in a small field on a good afternoon is a pleasure in itself. The real interest lies in whether any of his rivals can make him work even slightly for it.