SNOW FAIRY, an eleventh-hour withdrawal from today's Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh, will probably be left in the Coral-Eclipse at Monday's five-day stage, though our dual Oaks heroine could also get an entry for the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock the same day.
Speaking from Ireland this morning, Ed said: "It is a great shame, but they have had 2" of rain on the course and it was a no-brainer. The ground is heavy and, while Snow Fairy did win an Irish Oaks in those conditions, she has been off since December and it would have been crazy to give the filly her comeback run in such testing going."
"I will be talking to the owner, Christina Patino, and her racing manager this week-end and we will formulate a plan, while obviously monitoring the weather next week. Snow Fairy would have to carry a 5lb penalty in the Lancashire Oaks as it is a Group 2 race, and who knows what the ground will be like up there and while Sandown looks like being a very competitive race, with Workforce and So You Think in the line-up, we are anxious to get rolling again when we get our proper ground."
"We have always stressed that Snow Fairy's main programme centres on the second half of the season, but the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood are also in the mix and if we miss next week-end we would be going there cold, which would not be ideal."
"Making an early decision on Ireland means that we can head home today and Snow Fairy will be back in her box at Newmarket this evening and with the weather forecast favourable for next week let's hope we can get started either at Sandown or Haydock."
Snow Fairy, who suffered minor bone damage to her right-fore cannonbone in Dubai in March, causing her to miss the $5m Sheema Classic at Meydan on World Cup night, has pleased Ed in recent work, and Dave Stevens of Coral said: "It would be great if we could get Snow Fairy for our race, and even if she only finished third she would pick up more prize money than she would for winning at Haydock. We have a lot of respect for the filly and make her 8-1 third-favourite."