Ruby Walsh: Love can open a new door for herself in Juddmonte International at York

Ruby Walsh thinks Love can prove the super sub and change the path she follows from here to November

Love and Ryan Moore win the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes for trainer Aidan O’Brien at Royal Ascot last June. Picture: Healy Racing

Most sporting calendars are starting to get back into sync after the disturbances the Covid-19 pandemic created in the spring of 2020. Dates are engrained in our brains. Well, not exact dates but certain weeks and times of the year. Mid-August equals the resumption of the Premier League, which also triggers the thoughts of York’s Ebor festival with the Juddmonte International, the Yorkshire Oaks, and the Nunthorpe sharing top billing.

In 2020, York was the first meeting that calendar changes had not impacted, so all the right horses turned up. Sadly, this year it is an injury that means one of the essential horses is missing. St Mark’s Basilica should have been strutting his stuff on the Knavesmire, trying to add the Juddmonte to his French Classic and Eclipse victories before returning to Ireland for the Champion Stakes on Champions’ Weekend in early September.

As much as York needed him on Wednesday, Leopardstown requires him if they are going to gain any sporting headlines that weekend - particularly as they are now clashing with the All-Ireland football final.

The second weekend in September was chosen for Ireland’s marquee Flat meeting because it divided the traditional All-Ireland dates but, lo and behold, Covid has found a way of leaving its mark on that.

With the prospect of a minimal number of spectators being allowed at the Foxrock venue, it is in danger of being completely overshadowed by the football, regardless of who wins. So, Wednesday is vital for Leopardstown because they need something to happen in the Juddmonte that sparks interest in the Champion Stakes.

Ideally for them, it would be Love bouncing from back from her King George defeat and setting herself up for a clash with Tarnawa. Two fillies going head to head en route to the Arc, but one needs to be the Juddmonte winner. Or maybe Mishriff will be the answer and set himself up for a rematch with St Mark’s Basilica, should the latter return in time. 

Either way, Leopardstown needs Wednesday’s winner. Ghaiyyath beat Magical last year, and we had that epic rematch at an empty Leopardstown four weeks later. Roaring Lion and Saxon Warrior clashed in 2018, Australia beat The Grey Gatsby at York before The Grey Gatsby turned it around in Dublin in 2013, and Sea the Stars, in 2008, brushed Mastercraftsman aside just as he did everything else that season.

Wednesday’s feature has more than two runners, of course, and Jim Bolger’s Mac Swiney is the other Irish representative. He is on a bit of a retrieval mission after defeats in the Irish and Epsom Derbys, but his back form, when he beat Poetic Flare in the Irish 2000 Guineas, is strong. That was on heavy ground, and he will need the skies to open over the northeast of England to give him a winning chance. As might Alcohol Free, who also beat Poetic Flare in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. But that, too, was on slow ground.

I can’t see Mohaafeth making the required jump from Group 2 to Group 1 level, so it brings me back to the King George form. Mishriff and Love, down in trip to 10 furlongs, one fulfilling its target, the other thrown in as the super sub, and I think Love will prove to be just that, opening a new door for herself and changing the path she follows from here to November.

York’s Juddmonte meeting is like the first leg on the road to season climaxes. The Great Voltigeur is seen as the last race for a genuine St Leger hope to emerge, to try and tackle the Derby horses who booked their slots at Doncaster back in June.

High Definition is on a recovery mission after his Irish Derby flop but needs to be a completely different animal because the one I watched on the Curragh looked too slow for this.

Kemari is the favourite, but a change of tactics on the other Godolphin runner, Yibir, might be worth trying. He has been held up on his last few starts and has pulled too hard, so maybe front running might suit him. If they do try this, I wouldn’t mind being on him each-way.

Thursday is all about the ladies - or one lady, in fact: Snowfall. She has been brilliant in both the traditional Oaks and a similar performance could see her rocket to the top of the Arc betting. And it is very likely because nothing here should trouble her. Should Love win the Juddmonte, she may well open the Arc door for Snowfall.

Friday will see raw speed mixed with pure stamina when the two-mile Lonsdale Cup precedes the five-furlong Nunthorpe.

Stradivarius has been on the decline, and this could be the last throw of the dice for John Gosden’s former star stayer. He has been an incredible advert for the staying division on the Flat, but this seven-year-old colt’s mind has looked elsewhere this season. That said, if the ground stays quick the opposition could be weak, and perhaps Stradivarius could get the swansong he deserves.

Battaash has departed the sprinting stage, leaving the door ajar for someone to take over, and the internationals know it too. Wesley Ward sends Golden Pal from the USA, Francois Rohaut brings the Goodwood winner Suesa back from France for another go on English soil, and the Japanese-owned but English-trained Dragon Symbol flies the flag for the home team. You may well have time for a cup of tea during the Lonsdale, but even replying to a text message will see you miss the Nunthorpe and the French challenger Suesa becoming sprinting’s new darling.