Irish Derby Festival: Key Runners to Watch on Day Two at the Curragh Day two of the Irish Derby Festival at the Curragh takes centre stage on Saturday afternoon with an eight-race offering from the Kildare circuit. They race from 1.15pm-5.15pm, with the Group 1 Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes for fillies' and mares' the highlight at 3.30pm. Ahead of day two on the Curragh, our racing expert has picked out a trio of runners to follow. Irish Derby Festival Day 2 Tips 2.20 Curragh - Suzie Songs 3.30 Curragh - Whirl 4.40 Curragh - Rappell BoyleSports Betting Offer If you already have a BoyleSports account, check out more of the best betting sites and casino bonuses 2.20 Curragh - Suzie Songs The Jebel Ali Racecourse And Stables Anglesey Stakes looks set to feature Aidan O'Brien's Flushing Meadows as the short price favourite, after the Wootton Bassett colt began his career by winning a course and distance maiden earlier this month under Ryan Moore. He's a major contender with improvement to come and first-time-out winners from the O'Brien team are always noteworthy, but it's no foregone conclusion the Ballydoyle team will serve an ace in this Group 3 event, a contest O'Brien has only landed once since 2017. Ger Lyons has saddled Beauty Inspire (2021) and last year's scorer Babouche to success, with Colin Keane striving to win the Anglesey Stakes for the fourth time in five years after also steering Kairyu home for Michael O'Callaghan in 2023. They combine here with once-raced winner SUZIE SONGS. The daughter of Starspangledbanner showed a willing attitude on debut at Cork (6f, good) this month, battling past Havanna Anna in the closing stages. Donnacha O'Brien's filly was third on her own debut at Navan behind subsequent Royal Ascot winners Gstaad and True Love, and she dotted up in a Navan maiden since. This Moyglare Stud filly could be well above average and she gets 3lb from Flushing Meadows. 3.30 Curragh - Whirl The feature race is the Pretty Polly Stakes and it can go to O'Brien and Moore with Epsom Oaks runner-up WHIRL. The Ballydoyle team last won this with Magical in 2020, an upside down season in which the Oaks at Epsom was run after this race, while before that it was Minding in 2016 off the back of her Epsom Classic win. She came here and beat older rivals, and Whirl can do likewise despite a silver medal in the fillies' Classic three weeks ago. The Wootton Bassett filly enhanced her reputation despite a neck defeat behind stablemate Minnie Hauk. She made most of the running and looked beat at the two-furlong pole only to rally in determined fashion and make Ryan Moore pull out all the stops on the winner, the pair a long way clear of Newmarket Guineas winner Desert Flower in third. Moore takes over now and his three-year-old gets 12lb from main market rival Kalpana. Andrew Balding's charge ran well in the Tattersalls Gold Cup here last month (third), but the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes she won last season wasn't strong and she will do well to lump weight to Whirl here. 4.40 Curragh - Rappell Trainer Paul Flynn saddles an interesting contender in RAPPELL for the Fitzpatrick's Mercedes-Benz Handicap over 6f. The four-year-old Soldier's Call gelding has operated at a variety of trips from 5f-7f in four runs of late, running good races here and at Listowel a month ago. He finished fifth at Navan over 5f on his most recent start but the drop to the minimum trip may not have been ideal, with all three previous wins coming at this trip - including over C&D last summer. The handicapper has dropped him 2lb to a mark of 70 - just 4lb above his previous winning mark - and with a pair of first-time blinkers tried and the excellent Dylan Browne McMonagle taking over in the saddle for the first time, a big run is forecast.
