Flying Five Stakes Tips 2023: Princess to retain Curragh Group 1 crown

There's a mouth-watering Flat card at the Curragh on Sunday afternoon with a whole host of top quality Group races, but one of the features is the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes, which is off at 14:55 and it will see last year's winner Highfield Princess return to try and retain her crown, but she will face some lively rivals in what is a cracking 5f contest. Our man Steve Chambers previews the event here and picks out his best bet of the contest...

John Quinn's Highfield Princess has been dining at the top table of the sprint division all season and she's been consistently putting in top performances, and while her only victory this campaign has been in the Group 2 King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, she can return to winning ways in an enthralling renewal of the Flying Five Stakes on Sunday afternoon.

An imperious three-and-a-quarter length winner of this event 12 months ago, she will face a stiffer task at the weekend against some quality rivals and her biggest adversary could well be Bradsell, who got the better of Quinn's raider in the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. The pair fought out a terrific finish on day one of the Royal meeting with Bradsell coming out on top, but Bradsell failed to frank that form when the pair clashed in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York last month, as the pair finished second and third, respectively, to Live In The Dream.

It's been a long campaign for Highfield Princess, but she showed when winning this last season that continuous racing doesn't hinder her and she could well get the better of Bradsell once again here, as if she can find herself on the front end during the early part of the contest then the fast-finishing Bradsell could just struggle to reel her in the closing stages, so of the fancied duo it's HIGHFIELD PRINCESS that can bound to more Group 1 success on Irish shores.

Tim Easterby's Art Power has an absolutely phenomenal record at the Curragh having won four Group races on his four visits to the track and while the six-year-old has often struggled to deliver the goods elsewhere his record at the Irish track speaks volumes and that is why he is available at single-figured prices. Well beaten in the Prix Maurice de Gheest in France, Art Power will relish a return to his beloved Curragh and has to be given the utmost respect, but it's hard to fancy him over Highfield Princess, who has ultimately exuded consistency this season and can dominate here.

There's a chasm in the betting between the top three in the market and the other seven runners, but Moss Tucker comes into the contest on the back of a superb Group 3 sprint victory at the Curragh and while he will need a huge career best to land this prize he lines up in decent form and he could well be the value play for those looking for an each-way alternative.

Yann Barberot's French raider Bouttemont is a fascinating runner and five-year-old has been running in decent races on home soil this season, but has struggled to get his head in front and he will need the leading protagonists to misfire here, while the likes of Ladies Church, Equality and Aesop's Fables appear to have a tough ask in this very top company and can just fight it out for place money in a race that should be dominated by those at the forefront of the betting.