OWL ON COURSE FOR THE CURRAGH Arctic Owl heads to the Curragh on Saturday for the Jefferson Smurfit Memorial Irish St Leger. James Fanshawe`s charge bounced back to form at Ascot last time, beating subsequent Geoffrey Freer Stakes winner Murghem in the Shergar Cup Classic. The gelding steps back up to a mile and three-quarters having scored under the seemingly unfavourable circumstances of fast ground and 12 furlongs at Ascot. Fanshawe said today: 'I hope he runs as well as he did at Ascot because he`d have a good chance in the race. 'I don`t know what the ground`s going to be like at the Curragh. The rain has been very local and we`ll have to see what the forecast is like. 'But if the ground is on the faster side it doesn`t seem to be as big a problem as it has been.' Connections will wait to see how the six-year-old runs in Ireland before deciding whether to send Arctic Owl to the Foster`s Melbourne Cup in November. 'There are a few options for him,' Fanshawe added. 'We`ll get next Saturday out of the way first and then see where we`re heading but he`ll be left in the Melbourne Cup at the next forfeit stage.'
