Irish Derby finish appealed; Eclipse on tap Saturday

The connections of CURTAIN CALL (Sadler's Wells) have appealed against the

decision of the Curragh stewards not to promote the colt from fifth after

suffering interference in last Sunday's Irish Derby (Ire-G1).

Hampered by the errant Alessandro Volta (Montjeu [Ire]) as that rival veered

left across his path inside the final furlong, the Luca Cumani-trained colt

finished two lengths behind the fourth-placed Tartan Bearer (Spectrum), who was

subsequently handed third upon the former's disqualification.

"We are appealing, as we feel our horse should have been placed in front of

Alessandro Volta at the stewards' inquiry," Syndicate Manager Patrick Cooper

told the Racing Post. "Our horse was badly hindered, and we believe it

cost him the 2 1/2-length difference there was between him and Alessandro Volta

at the finish.

"He is in good order after the race and, luckily, has no cuts or bruises. He

put up a solid performance, but I would have been more delighted if he hadn't

been interfered with."

Meanwhile, Aidan O'Brien is likely to have a sole challenger in Derrick

Smith, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor's MOUNT NELSON (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire])

in Saturday's Eclipse S. (Eng-G1) at Sandown. Despite the presence of KING OF

ROME (Montjeu [Ire]) and PLAN (Storm Cat) among the entries at the five-day

stage, the Ballydoyle conditioner told the Racing Post that the Queen

Anne S. (Eng-G1) fifth was the only intended runner.

"We are looking at running only Mount Nelson in the Eclipse and Johnny

Murtagh will ride him," O'Brien told the trade daily. "King of Rome will

probably go to Hamburg for the Deutsches Derby (Ger-G1) on Sunday. Plan ran well

when fourth at the Curragh on Sunday, and this weekend might come a bit too soon

for him."

Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper is hoping that the current good-to-firm

description remains for Saturday's race.

"The forecast is a little bit of mixed bag, and I don't think we can be too

confident about the volume of rain we will see over the next few days," Cooper

explained on Tuesday. "The track is good-to-firm, good in places, and we'd like

to keep it like that for the meeting.

"(The Eclipse) lacks a Derby horse and a star, but it is a very busy time in

the fixture list with lots of competitive races of this sort. In terms of older

horses, if you take out Duke of Marmalade (Danehill), the best around are there,

so it will be a competitive and fascinating race."