Irish Competitors in Major Races Abroad This Weekend There are several Irish raiders of note to look out for on Saturday and the most significant is Jan Brueghel in the £1,500,000 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. Jessica Harrington sends Green Power over for York’s feature race and Willie McCreery brings a rare runner over for Ascot’s Valiant Stakes. Here we take a close look at the raiders’ profiles and consider their chances of bringing the spoils back over to Ireland. Jancis - Ascot 2.20 Willie McCreery doesn’t bring runners over to Britain with much regularity so it’s definitely worth taking note here. Jancis is a lightly-raced four-year-old and she looked very smart when winning a Leopardstown maiden in good style on debut last summer. Following that up with an equally impressive performance when upped to Group 3 level over the same course and distance, it was a very taking display. The form is a bit of a mixed bag but the third has won a Grade 3 in the US since. She came very close to winning a Listed contest at Gowran on seasonal debut, finishing second by half-a-length, and she has acquitted herself well enough in Group 1 and 2 company since. A fair fifth behind Porta Fortuna on her penultimate start, this race looks easier and a return to winning ways is far from out of the question. Green Power - York 2.40 Jessica Harrington’s Green Power looked very smart as a juvenile last term and twice got the better of subsequent Eclipse winner Delacroix. That includes a game half-length win in the Group 2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes. Plenty would have been expected of him at the start of this season and he looked in need of the run when tiring into sixth in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. He managed to get back on track in a Listed race over 1m1f at the Curragh after that, making all the running. Perhaps 1m4f was slightly too far for him when sixth in the Irish Derby but he wasn’t too far behind the winner in the grand scheme of things. This trip could be perfect and the drop in grade should also make life easier. Green Power might not be a superstar but he’s capable of competing at this level. Jan Brueghel - Ascot 4.10 Aidan O’Brien is having another exceptional season, especially with his three-year-olds, but Jan Brueghel is inarguably his best in the older horse category. We didn’t get to see the son of Galileo until his three-year-old campaign and he progressed through the ranks quickly. A bit of a character, he tends to pull out just what he needs to and keeps a little for himself. This means the narrow nature of his victories aren’t a reflection of the limit of his ability. He beat stablemate Illinois by a neck in the St Leger on his final start at three. O’Brien’s colt clearly needed the run when losing his unbeaten record over an inadequate 1m2f at the Curragh on seasonal debut and made no mistake when outbattling Calandagan in the Coronation Cup at Epsom last time out and he’s fancied to confirm the form here.
