'He deserves to be favourite' - can Art Power repeat the feat in Renaissance?

Sunday: 3.05 Curragh
William Hill Ireland Renaissance Stakes (Group 3) | 6f | 3yo+ | RTV

Art Power returns in search of back-to-back wins in this Group 3 and, in keeping with the race title, is seeking something of a renaissance himself.

The speedy son of Dark Angel has not won since bounding clear to win this last year by five lengths and was only eighth in the Sprint Cup at Haydock last time. There were excuses for that, though, as he stumbled coming out of the stalls and then proceeded to take a firm grip. He did too much too soon.

He is officially the best horse in the race here, 4lb clear of everything else, and is proven in the conditions and at the track so he certainly deserves to be favourite and is the most likely winner.

The main danger, and a big one at that, could be Just Beautiful. She was far too fizzy on her first start for Paddy Twomey in the Boomerang Mile at Leopardstown on Irish Champions Weekend and could have enough pace to cope with this extra emphasis on speed. She had some very smart form when in the care of Ivan Furtado and fetched 625,000gns at Tattersalls last November. She should not be underestimated.

Power Under Me found life tough with top weight in a hot handicap last time. He will be more at home here and Ger Lyons has decided to put blinkers on him. He is a strong-travelling course-and-distance winner on this sort of ground.

Favourites have a very good record in the race, winning four of the last six runnings, and the prize has also gone for export in four of the last five years so everything points to Art Power, but Just Beautiful is a viable value alternative.

What they say

William Easterby, assistant to Tim Easterby, trainer of Art Power
The ground was probably a little bit too quick for him at Haydock last time. He's come out of it really well, he's a solid Group 1 performer and it's the race he won last year, so he deserves to be favourite. He's run some fantastic races on soft ground and some great races on fast ground, and seems to go on anything. Last year this worked well as a good confidence booster into Champions Day at Ascot and hopefully it will be the same again.

James Horton, trainer of Sam Maximus
We're stepping up in grade a little bit but his work at home has been solid since he won at Newmarket. We had cheekpieces on last time but I felt a pair of visors might help him out a little bit and eke a bit more improvement. I think he should be competitive and he ran well on soft ground in France last year. Art Power is the one to beat.

Paddy Twomey, trainer of Just Beautiful
It was her first run for us at Leopardstown and she probably needed it. We're looking forward to getting her back out again. She's a nice filly.

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