Fleur De Provence has chance at Gowran Park to build on promising debut
Dermot Weld's Fleur De Provence ran a race full of promise at Naas in March. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Fleur De Provence should build on her promising debut second in Naas to give Dermot Weld a second success of the season in the Gowran Park Median Auction Fillies Maiden.
The Moyglare-owned Gleneagles filly was an unconsidered 16/1 shot for her debut in a one-mile maiden at Naas back in late March but ran a race full of promise.
She came from mid-division to deliver a challenge nearing the furlong pole and, having leaned left briefly, stayed on in encouraging style to finish a solid second, beaten a length and a quarter, behind well-regarded Ballydoyle debutante Drop Dead Gorgeous, with 85-rated White Sand Beach third and one of her rivals today, the experienced Sanctijude fourth.
Winner of the race Drop Dead Gorgeous has since finished an unlucky third in the listed ‘Athasi’ at the Curragh and holds an entry in Sunday’s Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas and the ‘Gallinule’ (Group 3) on Saturday.
Fleur De Provence is entitled to improve significantly from her Naas experience and, given time to recover and mature, should prove tough to beat.
She holds 79-rated Sanctijude on Naas form and might have most to fear from Joseph O’Brien’s newcomer Nellcote.
The four-runner @gowranpark1 On X Fillies Race is an intriguing feature of this seven-race card.
Raised 6lb. for her breakthrough success in a fillies handicap in Sligo and rated 92, Lady Mairen boasts a mark of 92.
But she might be vulnerable to her three-year-old rivals, notably Jim Bolger’s Dawn Approach filly Sparan Nua, who looked a smart prospect when making a successful debut recently in Naas, when she defied odds of 25/1 in turning over odds-on favourite Cromac Quay in convincing fashion.
That win was achieved over a mile and the Coolcullen filly looked the type to prove even more effective over further. So this extended nine furlongs should suit her.
Sparan Nua gets the vote over Lady Mairen and Joseph O’Brien’s once-raced maiden Vauntingly, expected to step up on her recent debut third over this course and distance.
Another to note, returning after a break, is Michael O’Callaghan’s Hassaniya in the INPBA Sponsored Gate June 1st Maiden.
Unplaced on his only juvenile start, this fellow went to the front and looked the likely winner of a Curragh maiden on the opening day of the season, back in mid-May, before being collared inside the final furlong and finishing fourth to Victory Tip (now rated 90 and runner-up in a rated race in Naas on Sunday).
With Colin Keane again on board, Hassaniya looks capable of a maiden success and might prove too strong for Rolltight and Chamonix.
5.10 Independent Expert
5.45 Fleur De Provence (Nap)
6.20 Hassaniya
6.50 Staywithherjohnny
7.20 Sparan Nua (n.b.)
7.50 Celtic Druid
8.20 Our Lucky Lady
5.10 Clonmacash
5.45 Nellcote
6.20 Rolltight
6.50 Alto Sax
7.20 Lady Mairen
7.50 Earthsong
8.20 Jurality
