Brooch bidding to maintain unbeaten record Dermot Weld's Brooch puts her unbeaten record on the line in the Lanwades Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday. Unraced at two, the Empire Maker filly made great progress last season, winning a maiden at Galway in July, a Listed race at Killarney in August and handled the step up to Group Three company with aplomb at Gowran in September. Kept in training at four, she takes the next logical step up the Pattern ladder into Group Two company and connections hope she can continue to progress. Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Brooch's owner, Khalid Abdullah, said: " She's in very good form, Dermot has been very pleased with her. "She's unbeaten and did everything we asked of her last season. "We hope she can continue to progress and we're expecting a good run." Tommy Stack's Alive Alive Oh threatened to be one of the best of her generation at three, when winning the Salsabil Stakes by six lengths, but she has never delivered on that promise. This season her connections have been trying to pick up as much black type as possible and she will be making her fifth appearance of the campaign. Stablemate Waltzing Matilda will also join her and Stack's son and assistant Fozzy, said: "Waltzing Matilda has been placed in plenty of those races and she'll probably only have a placed chance again. Alive Alive Oh's the same, but we'll see what happens." Marco Botti fields both Lady Dutch and Pelerin while David O'Meara saddles Amazing Maria with Fastnet Mist, Ramone and Some Spirit completing a nine-strong line-up.
