Phoenix Stakes Preview

3.35 Curragh Phoenix Stakes 6f (Group 1)

The Group 1 Phoenix Stakes is the feature this Sunday at the Curragh and to be honest i'm very sceptical about this race warranting Group 1 status. However this year's ren

ewal is a lot more competitive and appealing than last year's in which Caravaggio won at extremely short odds against a field made up of a majority of stablemates of his.

This year's race is headed by Beckford for the behemoth of jump racing that is Gordon Elliot. Beckford has looked immensely impressive so far when winning his only two starts. He won the Railway Stakes last time out and the form of that race has particularly worked out well. He's certainly the one to beat here for me and looks to have a lot more progression in him, Declan McDonogh takes the ride and Beckford can be found trading at a best priced 13/8.

As expected Ballydoyle have several representatives here and the first string of these looks to be Sioux Nation who is Ryan Moore's selection. He comes here on the back of his win in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot when he beat 16 rivals home when winning well. A bit of money has come for him for this as he's now trading at a general 3/1 in the market and a repeat of that Norfolk run would obviously see him be a huge player.

The Aiden O'Brien horse that I do quite like here as an each way player at a big price is Declorationofpeace. He made a big impression when shedding his maiden tag at Dundalk in an impressive time before flopping at Royal Ascot when a well backed favourite in the Windsor. I'm of the impression that run was too bad to be true and there could still be more to come from this one and at 20/1 he might be worth a try to bounce back. Wayne Lordon looks to take the ride.