'He seems great and he'll love the ground' - has the time come for Sunchart to end his drought?

Martinstown, the beautifully bred son of Galileo and Listed winner Alive Alive Oh, was only seen once at three but makes a very early appearance at four in a fascinating running of the Plusvital Devoy Stakes.

A full brother to the 115-rated Lancashire Oaks winner Free Wind, Martinstown won a Cork maiden last May and the form of that success worked out well with the second, third and fourth all winning on their next starts.

Martinstown boasts an entry in the Group 3 Alleged Stakes at the Curragh next month and this will tell us a lot more about him. The big worry would be the ground, and it will be interesting to see whether Aidan O'Brien allows him to take his chance on such a testing surface. A forecast of up to 10mm of rain on Saturday night led to an inspection being called for 7.30am on Sunday.

Conditions are no concern for Self Belief, the highest-rated runner in the race with a mark of 107. He won his maiden at the Curragh on quite soft ground and it was officially yielding to soft when he swooped late to land the Listed Trigo Stakes at Leopardstown in October.

Self Belief has only had three career starts and there could be a lot more to come from him as a four-year-old.

Sunchart is a smart stayer on his day, but this trip could be on the sharp side for him and his win ratio is also a worry. He is just 1-20 in his career and you have to go all the way back to a Tipperary maiden in 2019 to find his sole success.

Visualisation must be a major player, given his rating and ability to cope with conditions. He has less questions to answer than most in the ground and could prove to be the one they all have to beat.

What they say 

Willie McCreery, trainer of Self Belief
It's a good starting point for him. He's still learning his trade, having had just three runs last year, but this is the perfect race for him because it's a small field. There’s only eight runners and he's drawn in stall three, so he’ll learn plenty. The ground is going to be testing, but it's the same for all of us and Self Belief won on soft ground at the Curragh, so I don’t think he will mind it.

Self Belief: with winning connections after landing the Trigo Stakes at LeopardstownCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Andy Slattery, trainer of Sunchart
He seems great and he'll love the ground. He might prefer an extra furlong or two but we kept him hurdling over the winter, so he might have a fitness edge on one or two of them. I thought if he reproduced his last run on the Flat back in November it might be good enough to win this.

Joseph O'Brien, trainer of Visualisation
He's in good shape at home. He's wintered well and loves soft ground. It looks a very hot race but hopefully he can get some further black type.

Jack Davison, trainer of Hotter Than Hades
She's in great nick and she'll handle the ground. She's tough too, so I'd be hoping she will be able to get involved at the business end.

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