Racing: Attraction ready to defy record books Falcon's ascent with

No filly has won both the English 1,000 Guineas and its Curragh equivalent and Mark Johnston has never won an Irish Classic. Both those statistics are due an overhaul and the time appears to have come.

No filly has won both the English 1,000 Guineas and its Curragh equivalent and Mark Johnston has never won an Irish Classic. Both those statistics are due an overhaul and the time appears to have come.

Kingsley House's Attraction is a short-priced favourite to add to her Newmarket success at the home of Irish racing tomorrow afternoon. The filly has built a reputation of being a racing rocket, blasting from the start until her fuel runs out. So far it has not. However, Johnston stressed yesterday that Attraction is much more than a one-trick super pony.

"We don't have tactics for the race, we don't set out to make it and we don't know how fast the other 14 runners are going to go," he said. "She can come from behind. In fact, she ran one of her best races from behind in the Cherry Hinton.

"She's absolutely fine and in good form and I would hope she has come on a bit from Newmarket." Kinnaird, Secret Charm, Majestic Desert and Illustrious Miss complete the British challenge, while Aidan O'Brien fields five as he attempts to win the Classic for a fourth time.

The Irish 2,000 Guineas will be less definitive as the winner at Headquarters, Haafhd, is not here. But the Newmarket form is. Azamour and Grey Swallow, who were third and fourth three weeks ago, have the race to themselves if the market is a guide, and the drying ground is the factor which tips favour towards the former.

Leitrim House, Brian Meehan's first Irish Classic runner, and James Toller's Bachelor Duke form the British contingent. Dermot Weld, Grey Swallow's trainer, also saddles the intriguing Cairdeas in the Gallinule Stakes. The Darshaan colt, who is owned by the Irish President, Mary McAleese, has tumbled in the Derby betting this week. "He is an interesting horse," the trainer said yesterday. "He has won a very moderate maiden very easily. He is a progressive horse and Sunday will tell us all what we want to know."

The jury is already in on Sulamani and we know him to be guilty of the highest form. The Godolphin five-year-old returns in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, with the endorsement from Saeed Bin Suroor, the trainer, that he is a very different and better beast this year.

The cash run today is conducted at Ascot, where 20 runners will fight out the £60,000 Victoria Cup. Camp Commander won this last year, but the handicapper has not forgotten. His recollection is less clear about Selective, the second.

Alec Stewart's gelding has a form question to answer with Mine following his reappearance at Thirsk, where he was inconvenienced by soft going. Now the going, and the reasons to back Selective (nap 2.45), are quite firm.

The Derby entry Almuraad gained his second success from three outings under Richard Hills in the Robinsons Mercedes-Benz A-Class Stakes at Newmarket yesterday but he looks set to give the Epsom Classic a miss.

The 11-10 favourite, who is trained by Sir Michael Stoute, made hard work of his task however. He headed the long-time leader Mukafeh, who like the former carries the colours of Hamdan Al Maktoum, but the race was far from over.

And he had to he ridden right out to the line to score by half a length and the winning owner's racing manager Angus Gold said: "I have not even spoken to Sheikh Hamdan about it (running at Epsom), but is has got to be unlikely.

"We left him in just in case Richard came back in and said he wanted a mile and a half."