Rely on Rajik
The Charlie Swan trained five-year-old has shown dramatic improvement in his two runs since finishing unplaced in the Northumberland Plate, won by Overturn, in Newcastle in late June.
Ridden by Joseph O’Brien, he came through late and strong to land the valuable Guinness Handicap over today’s course and distance at the Festival, beating Scandal Sheet off a mark of 92.
And, last week, at the Curragh Swan’s charge produced the best performance of his career when proving a facile winner of the Ballycullen Stakes, arguably a sub-standard listed event on the day.
Rajik beat Silverhand emphatically in the Curragh race, with last year’s Darley Irish Oaks runner-up Roses For The Lady a well-beaten third.
Penalised 3lb. for that listed success, Rajik faces the toughest task of his career today, conceding lumps of weight to some highly-rated three-year-olds.
But, unlike many of his rivals, he’s a horse with a progressive profile, proven on the track, and should prove difficult to beat.
Aidan O’Brien will be represented by two disappointing fillies, Awe Inspiring and Dance On By. But the biggest threat to Rajik might come from David Wachman’s Leo Gali, runner-up to She’s Our Mark in Cork last time, and the Dermot Weld-trained Address Unknown, if reproducing his early-season second to Midas Touch at Leopardstown
A battling winner of an auction maiden in Sligo last week, the Jim Bolger-trained Deorai has just three to beat in the Donnelly’s Of Barna 2-Y-0 Auction Race and might prove too strong for Manacor.
