Diploma could represent Queen at Curragh The Curragh Racecourse is set to welcome a large number of British-trained horses for the second day of Longines Irish Champions Weekend on Sunday 11th September with 68 overseas entries currently engaged at the Curragh and Her Majesty The Queen set to be represented on the card. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Diploma is owned by The Queen and looks set to feature in the Group 2 Moyglare Jewels Blandford Stakes, a race Stoute has won on four previous occasions. Sunday’s feature race is the Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger with Order Of St George, the highest rated horse in Ireland, heading the 13-entries. Trip To Paris is set to be an intriguing runner in the final Classic of the season for trainer Ed Dunlop. Three of the last six renewals of the Irish St Leger have been won by British-trainers including a dead-heat in 2011 and having finished fourth in the Emirates Melbourne Cup last year, Trip To Paris will look to enhance that good record. “We think a mile and six furlongs is what he’s looking for at the moment and while we are very aware that the favourite will be very hard to beat, we’ve decided to let Trip To Paris take him chance. It is a race worth a lot of money and we are looking forward to running him. Hopefully he’ll run a big race,” said Dunlop’s assistant Tim Hyde. In the Group 2 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes, Sole Power could look to win the race for a second year in a row for trainer Eddie Lynam but he too will face a big raiding part as 12 of the 22 remaining entries are British-trained. Among them is Pearl Secret and the nine-year-old Take Cover, who was third in the race last year, and having won the Group 2 Qatar King George at Goodwood and finishing third in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes with only Mecca’s Angel and Limato in front of him, trainer David Griffiths is looking forward to returning to the Curragh this weekend. “We were delighted with him in the Nunthorpe Stakes,” Griffiths said. “It was his first placing in a Group 1 and it was behind the two top sprinters in Europe. He has come out of that race really well and Sunday’s race looks tough, as you would expect with such good money on offer, but he ran well there last year and we are hopeful that we are going over there with a chance.” “We wouldn't want too much rain for him and for it to go heavy. He ran really well on soft ground last year but the track was in such amazing condition, it was like a carpet, and when I walked it, it felt like good ground and I’m sure for Champions Weekend it will be the same again this year.” The Curragh Thoroughbred Trail kicks off the day with the public having the opportunity to visit some of the leading stable yards, stud farms and other equine establishments. Over 500 people will take part with places for each of the trails limited to 50 people and each trail visiting three locations during the morning. Limited places are still available for the Trails and must be booked in advance by 5pm tomorrow Wednesday at www.curragh.ie or call 045 441205
