Horses to follow and Leopardstown reflections including Buttons, Highbury and Meydaan

Be wary of Buttons

It wasn't to be for Ryan Moore on Henry Longfellow (luckless passage) or Content (far too keen) out in France, but Wayne Lordan and Aidan O’Brien didn't go missing at Leopardstown on Sunday, ending up with three winners including Igor Stravinsky and Highbury, who look pair of three-year-old colts on steep upward curves following their respective maiden victories on the card.

Highbury, in particular, cut a striking figure when easily winning the 12-furlong maiden and he’ll presumably be fast-tracked into something decent at Ascot or be asked to take up his entry in the Irish Derby back at the Curragh, where he made a promising - yet belated - start to his career just last month.

He’s an expensive Galileo colt (650,000 euros) we’ll be hearing a lot more about in the coming months and you’d have to love how he stuck his head down and stretched away in the straight, something that couldn’t necessarily be said of stable companion Buttons in the very next race – the Group 3 ‘Mutamakina’ Stakes.

She’s yet to win this season, having got up by the narrowest of margins on debut at Leopardstown last June, but obviously has loads of talent after a staying-on second to the forwardly-ridden Wendla, who dictated a steady pace and benefitted from rider Colin Keane’s impeccable timing in the final dash to the line.

Buttons was ‘nearest at finish’, as was the case on her April comeback over a furlong shorter, and will no doubt be flagged up as one to take out of the race, but can we be sure she's putting it all in?

She wouldn’t be the first horse by the brilliant Kingman to possess some slightly questionable tendencies when asked for maximum effort, but it’s probably even more telling that the dam Wonder Of Wonders had her head in the air from Tattenham Corner to the line when second to Dancing Rain in the 2011 Oaks, and it's going to be some job if O’Brien can iron out the apparent kink in this filly.

Buttons' next move will be fascinating as she does seem to have gears to be seriously competitive over a mile – granted a stronger gallop to chase down of course – but if not, she’s entered up in the Pretty Polly over 10 furlongs as well as the Betfred Oaks, the Ribblesdale and the Irish Oaks over a mile and a half.

So, they’ve obviously been thinking big with Buttons for a long time now and punters who had their fingers burnt (very well-backed) will be sorely tempted to keep the faith after another enticing effort in defeat, but she suddenly looks one I’ll be keen enough to take on - no matter the trip.

Early signs look good

Onto a couple of horses I'm significantly more positive about going forward and the first is Roger Teal's Dancing Gemini, who looks likely to be mixing with the best around again this summer having been pitched into the Group 1 Futurity Trophy Stakes on his final start last season.

He wasn't quite up to the task on the near-bottomless ground at Doncaster but Teal had sounded very upbeat about the colt following his Flying Scotsman win on Town Moor the previous month and he was only beaten just over three lengths by Ancient Widsom.

Roll on six months-plus and I was desperate to see how he'd developed - if at all - but vibes from the yard remained particularly positive and Dylan Brown McMonagle had been booked for the French Guineas mission a few weeks ago by all accounts.

A bit like David Menuisier with Tamfana at Newmarket last weekend, and Brian Meehan with Kathmandu in the Pouliche an hour or so before Dancing Gemini's agonising effort, in the end there was a bitter-sweet element to his performance as he might well have won had the cards fallen more favourably, but he's most certainly trained on, having done much the best of those from a mid-pack position to almost grab Classic glory close to the Longchamp line.

He's in the Derby and the St James's Palace and I can't pretend to know which way connections will be leaning after this (French Derby?), but he's got a Coral-Eclipse entry to his name too and, after Godolphin and Ballydoyle have been flexing their muscles all spring, it's just so refreshing to have trainers like Teal with legitimate contenders for races of that nature in the months ahead.

More to come from Meydaan

Stacks of good horses have been beaten in the Lingfield Derby Trial in recent seasons including Adayar, Kyprios and Kew Gardens, plus the likes of subsequent Royal Ascot winners Across The Stars and Waipiro, who won the Hampton Court just last year, and I’m refusing to give up the ghost with long-time Derby fancy Illinois who tasted defeat again on Saturday.

He was a well-held second to the smooth-travelling winner Ambiente Friendly but did seem to step forward from his Ballysax comeback run and is entitled to progress again if getting a lead and a true test. Whether he’s done enough to remain on course for the Betfred Derby is not yet known but you'd imagine 'The Lads' will be doing all they can to get as many of Galileo’s final full crop to the Classics in top shape, and I can’t imagine Los Angeles’ hard fought Sunday triumph in the Derby Trial Stakes at Leopardstown left the impression they don’t need a bit more back-up in case City Of Troy doesn’t come up to scratch.

The other beaten horse to take from Lingfield is Simon and Ed Crisford’s Meydaan, who was a one-paced third and is another already shaping like he has plenty of stamina. He didn’t get enough of a test here and was outpaced a couple of furlongs out, but he stuck on for third and is bred to improve in time being a Frankel colt out of top-class Dubawi mare Nezwaah, who peaked as a four-year-old in winning the Pretty Polly at the Curragh.

Meydaan looked a future grinder when making a winning start in a 10-furlong Newcastle maiden in November and he was never going to be seen to best effect after a slow start on the speed-favouring Rowley Mile on his seasonal return at the Craven meeting.

This was more like it and I look forward to seeing him in races like the Gordon Stakes or Great Voltigeur before a possible crack at the St Leger later in the year – although he’s obviously entitled to go for the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot en route to Goodwood, York and Doncaster.

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