Ulster Derby sure to be a keenly fought affair Four last-time-out winners do battle in the 100,000 euro Magners Ulster Derby at Down Royal on Saturday. Jim Bolger’s Godolphin-owned colt Change Of Velocity heads the field and although he must concede weight to each of his seven rivals, plenty will fancy him to follow up his impressive recent triumph at Gowran Park. Sheberghan won as he liked on his second career start for Dermot Weld at Sligo last month, while Joseph O’Brien’s Remmy D confirmed previous promise when opening his account at the Curragh a fortnight ago. Well Why Not, trained by Adrian McAllister, has won at Navan and Roscommon in testing conditions this spring and goes in search of the hat-trick on this much quicker surface. Swiss Cottage (Joe Murphy), City Ballerina (Jessica Harrington), Ashqar (Ger Lynch) and John Ryan’s British raider Midnight Wilde are the other contenders. There is a total prize fund of 40,000 euro up for grabs in the Lisburn Bowl Irish EBF Ulster Oaks. The Johnny Murtagh-trained Beach Wedding shed her maiden tag at this venue last September and returns at the top of her game following successive triumphs at Gowran and Leopardstown. She will have to improve again to defy a 5lb hike and the burden of top-weight, but that is certainly not out of the question and Murtagh has his string in rude health. Willie McCreery will be expecting a big run from Mazzuri following her narrow success at Gowran, while Kalaxana looks a leading contender for Mick Halford after dominating at the same track almost three weeks ago. Bolger’s highly tried Active Approach let down favourite backers at Sligo on her most recent outing, but is no forlorn hope in an open race. After placing on each of his three previous starts, Elysian Plains will not be winning out of turn if landing the concluding 10-furlong maiden for the formidable combination of trainer Ger Lyons and champion jockey Colin Keane. Weld’s Manzil and Needs To Be Seen from Joseph O’Brien’s yard have also shown enough to suggest there are race to be won with them.
