Padre hoping to boost Irish sprint division English-trained horses have dominated the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes in recent years but David Marnane is hoping Santo Padre can help the rejuvenation of the Irish sprinting crop by becoming just the second home-trained winner in seven years at the Curragh tomorrow. Only Aidan O'Brien's Astronomer Royal in 2008 has prevented a clean sweep by the raiders since 2006, and the overseas entry is strong once more. Tiddliwinks, Jimmy Styles and last year's winner Hitchens all cross the water for what looks a hot race by Group 3 standards, with O'Brien fielding an interesting runner in Crusade. Santo Padre bounced back to winning form last time out in the Woodlands Stakes at Naas, showing no signs of regressing despite being an eight-year-old. Marnane said: "It was great to see him win like that last time. Even though he was third in this last year and finished second in a Listed race at Haydock, we were never quite happy with him. "This year, right from the very first day, we've been much happier. He improved at Cork from his first run at Dundalk and he improved again at Naas. I still think there's a bit more to work with. "It looks a very hot race and the English horses will be tough to beat again, but we've developed a few good sprinters over the last couple of years. The likes of Sole Power and Invincible Ash hold their own in all the big races and hopefully Santo Padre will. "I'm not worried about his age, sprinters seem to get faster as they get older and he didn't race until he was four anyway so he's a fresh horse." Tiddliwinks, who was second in last year's renewal, finally made the breakthrough at Group level when scoring at 25/1 in last week's Duke Of York Stakes. Trainer Kevin Ryan said: "He's come out of York in great form and I've been really pleased with him." Clive Cox said of Jimmy Styles: "He's in really good form and I'm very positive about his chances. He's well in himself and came back in good form from Dubai. "He was only just beaten by The Cheka at Doncaster, and that horse ran very well in the Duke Of York. He also ran very well in the Abernant at Newmarket."
