Ryan Moore has his first ride of the year in Ireland at Dundalk on Friday night as he partners 2,000 Guineas entry Cairo in the Listed Patton Stakes.
The son of Quality Road signed off last season by winning the Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown in October and is as short as 20-1 with Ladbrokes for the 2,000 Guineas. He also holds an Irish Derby entry.
The ratings suggest it will be a straightforward task for Cairo as his mark of 107 is 16lb higher than anything else in the race, but Aidan O’Brien has warned punters that he will not be at his peak for his seasonal reappearance.
O’Brien said: “Cairo is good. He’s a lovely colt and we always hoped he would develop into a nice three-year-old. He’s by Quality Road and he’s one we’ve always liked, but he’s only just ready to start back. He will come on for it.”
O’Brien and Moore teamed up to win the Listed prize in 2018 with Mendelssohn, who won the UAE Derby by a wide-margin at Meydan on his next start and then ran in the Kentucky Derby.
The all-conquering Ballydoyle stable also won it in 2017 with War Secretary and in 2016 with Washington DC, but Aidan’s son Joseph won back-to-back runnings in 2020 and 2021 and is responsible for two of Cairo’s rivals this time.
Cash Out was a course-and-distance maiden winner last month, while All Things Nice won two of her four starts last season.
Joseph O’Brien said: “Cash Out has had two good runs at Dundalk. This is obviously a big step up in class but we’re hoping for a good run. All Things Nice was a smart filly last year. It’s her first run after a layoff and it would be great if we could get a bit of black type for her.”
Tiverton was well beaten by Cairo in the aforementioned Killavullan Stakes but was a Listowel maiden winner prior to that and Dermot Weld has booked champion jockey Colin Keane for the ride.
