Irish Cesarewitch: five for the shortlist plus a 16-1 tip

There are few more ferociously competitive handicaps than the Friends Of The Curragh Irish Cesarewitch and Sunday’s renewal is well up to standard.

A maximum 30-runner field has been declared with three reserves ready to plug any gaps. That trio waiting in the wings include the JP McManus-owned Brazil, a smart hurdler who won a hot 12-furlong handicap on the level at the Galway Festival on his latest start.

He would be a leading fancy if sneaking into the €600,000 race and don’t discount that happening as McManus has three “guaranteed” runners in the final field – Dawn Rising, The Shunter and Drop The Anchor. A late shuffle could yet occur, although Brazil would not be on my shortlist as he’d have a stamina question to answer.

There’s a stack of familiar names in the line-up, which will include six Willie Mullins-trained runners, plus an intriguing contender from the Classic generation in Tower Of London, who was fourth in the St Leger last weekend. His jockey, Ryan Moore, was in action in Australia on Saturday and will have had plenty of time to consider tactics during his 10,600-mile journey home!

The bookmakers are going 7-1 the field, which reflects the open nature of the race. Here's my shortlist, which could easily have been a lot longer.

1 NOVEL LEGEND

Trainer: James Fanshawe. Best odds: 16-1.

The sole British challenger must be taken very seriously given his progressive profile as a stayer and penchant for soft ground.

A 7lb for his narrow wins at Goodwood last time heightens his task, but I thought he won a bit snug and the drying conditions that day probably would not have been ideal. The runner-up franked the form with his win at Newmarket on Saturday.

Novel Legend had previously chased home another stayer on the up, Sweet William, at Newbury, deserving plenty of credit given he was trying to concede 6lb. The winner has since gone close in the Ebor and finished a fine second to Trueshan in the Doncaster Cup, giving that Newbury form an extra glow.

Novel Legend has a wide draw to contend with but that is not always such a curse in these big fields. Waterville won from gate 18 last year, with Lot Of Joy (32), finishing a close third. A decent start is of more importance and I’m hoping Chris Hayes can engineer a decent early position without having to use up too much early energy.

2 CHALLY CHUTE

Trainer: Michael Halford & Tracey Collins. Best odds: 14-1.

This five-year-old does not have many miles on the clock and keeps progressing in big chunks. Winner of a bread-and-butter Dundalk handicap on this day last year, off a mark of 60, he will take his chance off a rating of 102 after going from strength to strength.

His latest effort over 1m 4f at the Galway Festival, when beaten a head and the same behind Brazil and Teed Up, represented a new career-best and you can mark it up because he had to weave about in the closing stages. It also highlighted his versatility because he’d looked comfortable over an extended 2m at Killarney on his previous start when he won with something to spare.

Like so many of Fast Company’s offspring, he’s at home in testing conditions. He’s also 1/1 at The Curragh, ticking another box.

3 JESSE EVANS

Trainer: Noel Meade. Best odds: 16-1.

He has been called “she” a lot since making his debut three years ago but it’s not stopped him having a productive career.

Most of us know him best as a smart hurdler but we’ve seen more of him on the Flat in the past year or so, and with good reason.

An eye-catcher in a 12f contest at Bellewstown in early July after almost eight months off, he’s since won at Leopardstown (15f) and Killarney (14f, watch above) with a near-miss over hurdles at the Galway Festival being sandwiched in between.

He looked on great terms with himself when last in action at Killarney, racing exuberantly and zipping ahead on command.

This is a deeper race and he’s got a 7lb to carry but Noel Meade’s challenger could still have more to offer. Like six of the past 14 winners, he will be ridden by an apprentice.

4 DROP THE ANCHOR

Trainer: Pat Fahy. Best odds: 25-1.

At nine years of age, you’d think that he would be exposed. That’s the case over jumps, where he’s had 23 races, but much less so on the Flat, as this will be only his seventh start in this sphere.

He’s not obviously well-treated on his jumps form but this JP McManus-owned gelding had several of the rivals he will face on Sunday behind when scoring in game style over 2m on heavy ground at Naas in November.

The form of that race puts him in the mix and we’ve since seen him only once on the Flat – when running in a 7f contest at Tipperary three weeks ago. That was also his first outing of any kind since the spring and clearly just something of an away day given the woefully inadequate trip.

Not surprisingly, he was the rank outsider in the six-runner field and it looked like he might drop off the radar after a slow start and predictably being outpaced. However, he kept on well to finish fourth without being given anything like a hard time. I’d imagine his connections were surprised and delighted in equal measure.

That spin is unlikely to have been lost on Drop The Anchor and, back over a much more suitable trip, he is interesting at chunky odds. The market could well reveal further expectations for him.

5 TOWER OF LONDON

Trainer: Aidan O'Brien. Best odds: 7-1.

He was my fancy for last weekend’s St Leger and there was a moment when I thought he might win as Jim Crowley began to make purposeful strides on him from the rear. In-running players on Betfair clearly felt the same because he traded at 6/4.

However, he couldn’t find an extra gear when it mattered most and he had to settle for an honourable fourth.

Tower Of London, a brother of Capri, the Irish Derby and St Leger winner, now returns to handicap ranks off a rating (110) for this early-closing contest and that is probably on the lenient side. The British assessor, for what it is worth, has got him on a mark of 112.

It also won’t be lost on the punting public that Aidan O’Brien landed this race with another three-year-old, Waterville, in extraordinary circumstances 12 months ago.

I can see him shortening in the market but the one obvious niggle is whether this race will come too soon for him after his exploits at Town Moor.