Irish Cesarewitch: Britain’s best chance of plundering major handicap prize is 20/1

One of Ireland’s most valuable handicap prizes, the €600,000 Irish Cesarewitch is fiercely competitive as a result. It takes place at the Curragh on Sunday and the huge prize pot has attracted the attention of four British raiders. With that in mind, we’ve taken a good look at the four horses’ chances and picked out Britain’s best chance of bringing the prize home. Why not check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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Naqeeb

This son of Nathaniel represents the William Haggas yard and he was far from disgraced when third in a Group 2 at Newmarket in May. Beaten by a head off a 2lb lower mark at Newbury in July, his stamina is all but guaranteed. That effort came over an extended two miles but he’ll need to improve on his poor effort in the Ebor last time.

Divine Comedy

She was an excellent second in the Ascot Stakes over 2m4f and wants a real test of stamina here. Harry Eustace’s six-year-old has been a bit below-par in two runs since and could perhaps do with some help from the handicapper. If reproducing her Royal Ascot form however, she’d be a very dangerous player here.

Tashkan

Brian Ellison’s runner has some top-drawer form to his name but he looks handicapped right up to his limit. That being said, he was an excellent third off this very mark in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket last year. It was a solid enough effort when third at Chester last time but others are preferred.

Zoffee

Winning the Chester Cup back in May, Hugo Palmer’s eight-year-old has certainly been around the block. He wasn’t far behind Tashkan when finishing fourth last time out but the son of Zoffany hasn’t been competitive off this mark since the 2023 Chester Cup. You would probably fancy him more if he was just a few pounds lower in the handicap.

Verdict

Divine Comedy makes the most appeal of the British contingent. It’s hard not to like her run at Royal Ascot and the stronger a test of stamina this race is, the more it will suit.

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