Martinstown can defy lack of experience

The exciting, once-raced Martinstown might upstage his more experienced rivals in the listed King George V Cup in Leopardstown.

A home-bred Galileo colt, partly-owned by the McManus family, he was the subject of favourable reports ahead of his debut in Cork last month.

And, apparently learning on the job, he didn’t hit top gear until the closing stages, but came home strongly under Wayne Lordan, getting up to prevail by a half-length over Point Gellibrand, Flying Dolphin and Vellner after his three rivals were involved in a ding-dong battle up the straight.

And both Flying Dolphin and Vellner have franked the form by landing maidens at Gowran Park and the Curragh respectively.

With that experience under his belt, Martinstown is expected to make a significant step-forward today.

However, he’ll have to do exactly that if he’s to get the better of highly-rated rivals Boundless Ocean (103) and Cairde Ge Deo (99).

A Leopardstown maiden winner, Boundless Ocean failed to make an impression in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas, but, last time, fared much better when, denied a clear run at a crucial stage, he filled third spot behind Hannibal Barca and Lyrical Poetry in the Group 3 Gallinule at the Curragh.

And Cairde Ge Deo is already a listed winner, having run out a convincing winner of the Yeats in Navan last time.

So Martinstown faces a tough assignment, but might be up to the task and, if he triumphs, he might even fulfil his engagement in the Irish Derby later this month.

First-time blinkers might inspire Cadillac to bounce back to winning form in the other listed event on the card, the Glencairn Stakes.

Jessica Harrington’s charge has recorded two of his three wins at Leopardstown, both over a mile and he ran creditably when third behind Pearls Galore and subsequent Group 3 winner Pretreville on his 2022 debut here back in early April.

Cadillac’s disappointing sixth to Layfayette in the Mooresbridge can probably be put down to the easy surface and the step into Group 2 company. And, back on a fast surface, on his favourite track, he might bounce back here, with Patrick Sarsfield the likely threat.

A number of fascinating debutantes will contest the opening two-year-old fillies maiden. And Aidan O’Brien’s Unless, withdrawn at Navan last Saturday, might prove best.

Like impressive Navan winner Statuette, Unless is a daughter of Justify.

And her dam Clemmie was a Group 1 winner, having landed the Cheveley Park as a juvenile.