‘The O’Brien family surely have this’ – Star Appeal Stakes preview and free 9/2 tip

There are a couple of Listed two-year-old races at Dundalk on Friday and the Star Appeal Stakes over 7f is the most interesting of the two. An intriguing field of nine has been declared so we’ve had a close look at the race and assessed the most likely winners. We’ve also provided a verdict for the €47,500 event and like the look of one of the market principles. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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O’Brien family to dominate?

Four of the nine runners are trained by a member of the O’Brien family and surely they have this between them. Aidan runs favourite Bernard Shaw and Right And True, whilst Donnacha’s representative Comanche Brave looks particularly interesting.

Bernard Shaw absolutely bolted up when winning a maiden here over a mile in August but he was slightly disappointing when third of four in a Group 2 at Leopardstown. That form could be enough but he’s plenty short enough here.

Comanche Brave was fourth behind the very smart sprinter Ides Of March on debut and made no mistake when cruising home at Cork next time. The extra furlong shouldn’t be an issue and it’s easy to see why he’s so prominent in the market.

Twice-raced maiden Kahu is set to line up for Joseph O’Brien but he was well beaten at Listowel and is hard to fancy.

Best of the rest

Beckman represents the Ger Lyons yard and he was runner-up to a smart Ballydoyle filly in a Listed race at Tipperary in August. He’ll be in the mix if putting in a similar effort here.

Jessica Harrington is always a trainer to watch and her runner Va Va Vroom was fifth in a Group 2 at Deauville last time. The opposition here is fairly strong for a Listed race and improvement may be required.

Verdict

Comanche Brave could be the one to side with here. There was no disgrace in his fourth behind Ides Of March on debut and he was impressive when getting off the mark. He looks like a strong candidate to take on the favourite with.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.

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