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Heavy ground for start of the Irish Flat season
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O'Brien filly to handle the step up in class
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Stack to start off with handicap success?
The Flat season in Ireland returns on Monday and while heavy ground makes playing in some of the races tricky, some good field sizes and classy races certainly lights up a usually mundane start to the week.
One of the feature races is the Group 3 Park Express Stakes, and a race that Aidan O'Brien has surprisingly landed only once in the last 10 seasons, and with O'Brien's horses at this time of year, it's a bit of a guess up as to how forward they are. But then those comments apply to most.
Everlasting is a big price at 13/27.50 and drifted this morning on the Sportsbook and it's a considerable rise in class after just two starts - but that is something I am never afraid of siding with fillies and mares in Group 3 races.
The selection ran a couple of times as a juvenile last term and ran respectably on debut at the Curragh before winning a Maiden at Galway in very testing conditions.
That was a pleasing step up on her debut, and also she enjoyed the step up from 7f to the extended 1m and there's no doubt she could be a middle-distance filly with the way she finished off her race at Galway, but also with her pedigree as Adelaide River is a relation - a 1m4f performer.
Trainer Fozzy Stack started last spring in good fashion and his Chazzesmee looks the one for me in the Irish Lincolnshire - the big Flat race of the day.
Twenty runners in heavy ground will be a real old slog and the winner did come from a high draw 12 months ago in 24.
Chazzesmee at least has the heavy going form in the book but it's been a stop-start career thus far as he had just two starts last season and three all year.
He bolted up by 5L at Dundalk and scored on the turf at Naas last March, and while the ground was testing that day, the time was reasonable.
The 6yo was last seen running on Irish Derby weekend at the Curragh with an excellent second in a Premier Handicap, a race where he did met some trouble. But off a 13lb higher mark, that was a terrific effort.
Going off a break doesn't seem to be a problem either as he has finished 112 off breaks of 79, 72 and 98, and also finished fourth off a break of 364 days.