Mizzava ready for Dance Design Stakes Trainer Mick Halford is confident Mizzava can put a recent no-show behind her in the Dance Design Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday. A winner on her seasonal reappearance at Limerick in early April, the three-year-old then ran two excellent races to finish fifth in both the Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. She ran her most disappointing race of the year when eighth in the Hurry Harriet Stakes at Gowran Park last time, but, having found a viable excuse, Halford expects much better at the weekend. The County Kildare handler said: "We're hoping to run her on Sunday if all goes well. "She was in season the last day, which explains why she didn't give her running at all. "She'd been running well all year before that and although all these races are competitive and hard to win, I think she's due her day. "I wouldn't want the ground too fast. A drop of rain wouldn't do us any harm as I wouldn't like to see the word 'firm' in the going description." Mizzava is one of 16 fillies and mares engaged for the nine-furlong Group Three, with Dermot Weld's Along Came Casey and Jim Bolger's Yorkshire Oaks fourth Scintillula the two highest-rated horses in the field. Other leading contenders include Eddie Lynam's three-times winner Pearl Of Africa, the Aidan O'Brien-trained Say and Kevin Prendergast's La Collina. The last-named, however, may miss the race in favour of the Group One Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on September 7. Prendergast said: "She's not a definite runner. She was only beaten a couple of lengths in the Matron last year, so we might wait for that." One Spirit, trained by Frank Dunne, has been supplemented for the contest despite having finished down the field in the Fairy Bridge Stakes at Tipperary last week.
