Gosden unfazed by Curragh rain

John Gosden doesn't expect recent rain at the Curragh to affect Cracksman's chances of victory in Saturday's Irish Derby.

Cracksman, the Gosden-trained son of Frankel, finished third in the Epsom Derby behind Aidan O'Brien's long-shot winner, Wings Of Eagles.

The pair meet again in the Irish Derby on Saturday, and Gosden expects Cracksman to deal with the conditions, and says the three-year-old is capable of emulating his sire's victory on soft ground in the 2012 Champion Stakes.

"I hope the ground will stay as it is currently described, good to yielding. If so, then I don't think anyone can complain," Gosden said. 

"If it went proper soft, I don't think that would be his favourite, though his dam [Rhadegunda] won on it and the sire, too, at the end of his career."

Gosden is more concerned with the mile and a half distance of Saturday's race than the going at the Kildare course, which has only experienced 1mm of rain since Thursday after heavy showers earlier in the week.

"He's by Frankel out of a Pivotal mare, so you could argue this is the top end of his range," Gosden said.

"We'll see. He's been fine since Epsom. He ran a very good race there and it was only his third race. 

"But the races don't get any easier and I am aware he is the least experienced in this field. That's not by chance, of course. He only had one run last year, which was all he needed, or wanted."

Gosden expects the main threats to Cracksman to come from O'Brien's Wings of Eagles, who he describes as "clearly the best in the Derby", and the Andre Fabre-trained Waldgeist, who impressed in coming second to Brametot on soft ground in the Prix du Jockey-Club.

Pat Webb, the Curragh's head groundsman, says the ground is good, good to yielding in places and expects it to dry out to almost good by Saturday.

Image: Getty Images/Alan Crowhurst

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