Oxx ready with Red Eye Express
Friday 11th April, 2008
IRISH TRAINER John Oxx is considering running Red Eye Express in the £50,000 Group Three banshahousestables.com Craven Stakes (3.45pm), run over a mile at Newmarket on Thursday, April 17, the second day of the Craven Meeting.
The three-year-old colt, currently a 50/1 chance with Stan James for the stanjamesuk.com 2000 Guineas, won on his only start in a seven-furlong maiden at Cork on October 20.
Oxx has been pleased with the progress of Red Eye Express since that victory and is hoping to get a run into the son of Giant’s Causeway prior to a possible tilt at Classic glory on May 3.
The Curragh-based trainer commented: "We’ve no good ground in Ireland and we need somewhere for Red Eye Express to run, so the banshahousestables.com Craven Stakes is a possibility at the moment. He’s also entered in a race at Dundalk and we will make a decision on Monday.
"He’s only had one run and is quite inexperienced, but we need to bite the bullet at some point to find out just how good he is.
"He’s has an entry in the stanjamesuk.com 2000 Guineas which is why we are keen to test him. He’s been going well at home and we don’t know if he is in that league or not, but he’s a nice horse and has pleased us with his work.
"He’s fit and ready to go and has done well over the winter. He’s a big horse who has strengthened up a bit and matured a lot. He looks a smart sort of horse and we think he has gone the right way."
Oxx’s only previous runner in the stanjamesuk.com 2000 Guineas was Azamour, who finished third behind Haafhd in 2004. However, he believes that it is too early to compare Red Eye Express with his four-time Group One winner.
He continued: "Azamour was a bit inexperienced when he lined up a Newmarket, but he had done a little bit more as a two-year-old, having won the Group Two Beresford at the Curragh. He missed his prep run for the Guineas because the ground was too heavy, but Red Eye Express would definitely need a race before the Guineas because he has had only one outing. It’s too early to say if he’s in the same league."
Eighteen other horses have been entered for the banshahousestables.com Craven Stakes.
By Racenews