Who To Follow At Leopardstown On Sunday - 02/04/23

James Mackie | @JMackieRacing

Leopardstown - April 01 2023
Leopardstown 14:45
2(5)
Ryan Moore

Alexandroupolis

J: Ryan Moore
T: A P O'Brien
N/A
Age: 3
Weight: 9-5
OR: N/A
Days: 208

The feature race of the afternoon is the Group Three Ballysax Stakes which is seen as a trial for the Derby and a horse we are fond of is Alexandroupolis for Aidan O'Brien.

A three year old son of Camelot who was bought for 240,000gns looked a very smart prospect on his sole two year old run in September 2022.

Over 1m 1/2f at Galway, having had to bide his time behind runners, when Wayne Lordan found a gap he powered home to beat a staying on Espionage, who is his stablemate.

Related to Group One winner Kew Gardens, he has stamina in his pedigree and the further he goes the better he will become, especially on soft ground.

He is currently 16/1 for the Derby in June and we can only see his price contracting if going well in this, but it is interested to see him against stablemate Denmark.

Ryan Moore has chosen Alexandroupolis

DateCourseDistanceTypeWeightPosition
16/09/23DON14.5Sft9-39
24/08/23LEO14Gd9-76
02/04/23LEO10Hy9-53
06/09/22GAL8.5Sft9-71

Trainer To Follow - Aidan O'Brien

Aidan O'Brien is looking to kick off the flat season in style and sends a strong team to Leopardstown on Sunday starting in the opener with the unraced daughters of Galileo Warm Heat and Tender Kiss looking to show their presence.

In the 2000 Guineas Trial O'Brien fields Carraci who was a winner at Dundalk last time out, but his better chance looks to be Hans Andersen who holds some good juvenile form.

The Ballydoyle maestro then has a good team in the 1000 Guineas Trial with Dame Kiri, Dower House and Never Ending Story looking to prove they are classy fillies, with the latter the pick of the bunch.

The Group Three Ballysax Stakes is a classy Derby Trial and the handler fields Alexandroupolis and Denmark who look two classy individuals and both worth watching.

Starry Eyed looks a live contender in the 1m2f Handicap and finished to day off for O'Brien who heads into the meeting sporting a strike rate of 33%.

Jockey To Follow - Gavin Ryan

Gavin Ryan has some nice rides across the card at Leopardstown on Sunday starting in the opener with Bold As Love for Donnacha O'Brien looking to go one better than his second on debut.

Ryan then picks up the mount on La Dolce Vita in the Group Three 1000 Guineas Trial with the filly showing some decent form as a juvenile and can now show her true potential a year older.

The rider only has two rides across the card but both look to hold strong chances and he is a superb jockey to keep on the right side if throughout the season.