Hit The Bid unlikely to make return to Curragh

Hit The Bid earned his trainer Darren Bunyan plenty of plaudits when springing a 50-1 Group 3 shock at the Curragh last weekend but the colt is unlikely to bid for a quick reappearance at HQ this Sunday.

The son of Exceed And Excel is one of 15 entries left in the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes but ground conditions are likely to mean he waits for Newbury’s Mill Reef Stakes next month instead.

“We’re thinking the Mill Reef. He’s very good but he needs it quick,” said Bunyan, who has reported Hit The Bid to have emerged in good shape from his Curragh Stakes victory.

Wind operation

Prior to the race, Bunyan informed the stewards that Hit The Bid had undergone a wind operation since his previous race. That information was relayed to the public on-course, and Bunyan’s actions have been widely welcomed, including by Turf Club chief executive Denis Egan.

“Darren was not required to inform us but I commend him for doing so,” Egan said. “Getting such information into the public domain is welcome.”

Whether news of such surgical procedures should be released to the public has been a regular subject for debate and it is set to be discussed at a meeting of Turf Club stewards later this week.

Hit The Bid is just one smart juvenile trained by Bunyan, who has outlined how Mister Trader is in line for a return to action after failing to fire when favourite for Royal Ascot’s Windsor Castle Stakes.

“He’s just getting going again and we’ll be looking at all the good five- and six-furlong races later in the year,” Bunyan said.

Ground conditions at the Curragh are currently soft ahead of Sunday’s triple-Group 3 card which also includes the one mile Flame Of Tara Stakes.

Dermot Weld’s Galway winner Eziyra could renew rivalry with the John Oxx-trained Sea Of Grace who beat her in a Tipperary maiden last month. Another possible contender is Godolphin’s Newmarket maiden winner, Wuheida.

The Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby has outlined plans for Skiffle to travel from Britain for the Snow Fairy Stakes on Sunday. She is one of 18 remaining in the nine-furlong event which may see Andy Slattery’s Galway winner Planchart attempt to step up from Listed level.