Powerful Glory out for more sprint success in Greenlands Stakes Richard Fahey suspects Powerful Glory may be in need of the run before his reappearance in the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes to kick off his four-year-old campaign. The Cotai Glory colt was last seen making history in October when becoming the longest-odds winner of a European Group One race at 200-1 after stunning the field in the British Champions Sprint Stakes. Royal Ascot and Newmarket are two big targets on the agenda for Powerful Glory this summer and the Musley Bank handler is confident his charge will “do himself justice” at the Curragh on Saturday. “He’s in good form, he’s wintered well and we are pleased with him,” Richard Fahey, who trains in partnership with son Peter, said. “He’s ready for his first run, Royal Ascot is only a month away and he has to run somewhere so we will see what happens. “He’s not fully wound up, especially with sprinters they always need a run just to tune them in. We are happy with him, he’s fit enough to do himself justice, but that first run always sharpens them up. “When you have a Group One winner, where do you go with him? You can’t put him in a Listed race or a conditions race because they won’t let you in, so he’s got to compete at the top table. “To be honest I’m hoping that he will maybe stretch out to seven furlongs, but, at the moment, it’s pretty mapped out where he’s going. “He’s won on very heavy and he’s won on good to firm, so the ground is not an issue.” Donnacha O’Brien hopes Comanche Brave can build on his Hong Kong experience on his return to home soil after coming up against serial winner Ka Ying Rising in last month’s Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin. “He’s in good form, his training has gone well and we’re hopeful of a good run,” O’Brien said. “We thought he coped with six furlongs very well (in Sha Tin), he was against some very high quality horses around a bend which he wouldn’t be used to – so we were very pleased with that effort. “He got a few bumps in the straight and with a cleaner run he might have been third or fourth so we were very happy with him. “He should improve for that run and he should improve for having got used to running at that high tempo as well.” Robson De Aguiar is double-handed with Phoenix Sprint Stakes winner Bucanero Fuerte and Valiant Force, while Karl Burke’s three-time French Group winner Spycatcher and Montassib – a previous Sprint Cup victor at Haydock – for William Haggas are British contenders. Andrew Balding’s Marvelman and James’s Delight, trained by Clive Cox – both travel across the Irish Sea, while Big Gossey (Charles O’Brien), Chicago Critic (Johnny Murtagh) and Fregada (John Feane) complete the entry list.
