War Envoy© Photo Healy Racing
War Envoy bids to further enhance his reputation in the Alfred Nobel Rochestown Stakes on a high-class card at Naas.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained War Front colt made quite an impression when running out a comfortable length winner on his debut at this track in April and is already on offer at 16-1 for next year's Qipco 2000 Guineas.
This Listed event over six furlongs has drawn a strong field of nine with Richard Hannon sending dual winner Kool Kompany for a race his father won back in 2011 with Lilbourne Lad.
Ger Lyons' Dandyleekie won his only start to date, while the Jim Bolger-trained Intense Style beat the highly regarded Dick Whittington at the Curragh last weekend.
Patrick Prendergast is represented by Bwana who accounted for the reopposing Sors at Cork in April and was second to O'Brien's The Great War at the Curragh last month.
The trainer said: "Bwana is in good form and I've always been keen to run him over six furlongs as I think he might find improvement for six. He'll like the ground and while there is rain forecast, I don't think it'll be any worse than yielding. That race will possibly be his last run for me as he's going to the Ascot sales after this."
Hannon runs Spirit Of Xian in the Coolmore Stud EBF Fillies' Sprint Stakes, a Listed race his father won in 2012 with subsequent Guineas winner Sky Lantern.
Trainer Ken Condon has high hopes for his Newsletter in the six-furlong contest, as she bids to build on the promise of her winning debut in a Curragh maiden in April.
The daughter of Sir Percy scored on yielding to soft ground then, but Condon said: "She needs decent ground and while the ground looks fine at the moment, I will be hoping it doesn't deteriorate.
"She won her maiden on soft ground, but that was in a different league and she won in spite of it. She's such a good mover and is well entered up in the early-closing races, so this will tell us more about her trip-wise. Her pedigree suggests she should go six or seven furlongs.
"We like her a lot and she shows us a lot of pace and has a nice action. I was delighted with her first run and this is the next step up and hopefully she'll make into a Royal Ascot filly."
Richard Fahey has a runner in the Middleham Park-owned Newmarket scorer Realtra while Beach Belle and Stormfly have also been successful in maidens in Ireland.
Prendergast saddles She's A Pistol who was second on her debut over course and distance.
He said: "She seems to have come on for her run and while she is still a maiden and has a little to learn, she has been working well and being by Danehill Dancer she'll appreciate any bit of rain. Both her and Bwana are homebreds by their owner, so we're hoping to get black type for those families."
An informative renewal of the Owenstown Stud Stakes is in store with Giovanni Boldini and Tested declared for the seven-furlong Listed heat. The pair were last seen contesting Classics, with the O'Brien-trained Giovanni Boldini seventh in the French 2,000 Guineas and Dermot Weld's Tested a creditable sixth in the Irish 1,000 Guineas.
Giovanni Boldini was second to Outstrip in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and his first start of this campaign saw him finish fourth to Toast Of New York in the UAE Derby at Meydan in March.
Weld's Navan maiden winner Sailors Swan steps up in class for the Lacken Stakes, with the opposition including the likes of juvenile Group One winner Sudirman Shining Emerald O'Brien's American import Due Diligence and John Oxx's once-raced Seas Of Wells
The David Wachman-trained Sudirman, a son of Henrythenavigator, signed off his juvenile season with a fifth-placing in the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.
Wachman said: "He's a horse that wants good ground and I haven't seen any of that yet recently and it looks like it won't even be that good tomorrow, either. He's in good form and we're trying him in blinkers for the first time, too."
