GAVIN Cromwell pulled another royal rabbit out of his hat when Snellen struck in the Chesham Stakes and the Meath trainer is hopeful his filly can stay unbeaten in the Group 2 Debutante Stakes (4.00) at the Curragh today.

To do so, she’ll likely have to beat her Chesham rival Pearls And Rubies again, with just a head separating the pair at Ascot, along with a number of interesting less exposed fillies. She may also have to show she can handle soft ground, with 12mm of rain forecast for the track yesterday and potentially a little more today.

Unlike the Aidan O’Brien’s filly, this will be Snellen’s first run since the Chesham, but that was always Cromwell’s plan.

“Snellen has been good,” he told The Irish Field. “She had been busy between the barrier trial, her maiden and Ascot so we gave her a couple of weeks off. She is in good order so we’re looking forward to it.

“I think we’ll be okay if the ground turned soft. I don’t think she is ground dependent but we probably wouldn’t want extremes.

“We’ve said before, she is a filly for next season. Her pedigree suggests that and the race she won at Ascot leads to that type of horse too.”

Pearls And Rubies has since run in the Anglesey Stakes, over a half a furlong shorter than today’s seven-furlong trip, and where she found Kairyu too sharp late on.

O’Brien said: “She is in good form. She won’t mind an ease in the ground either. We were a little bit disappointed with her the last day.

“Ryan said that he was coming home well (in the Anglesey) but the line came just too quick for him. We’re looking forward to meeting Snellen again and a few other nice fillies - we should learn plenty.”

The colts equivalent race, the Futurity Stakes (3.27), is less competitive due to involvement of O’Brien’s Henry Longfellow. He faces just four rivals and was trading odds-on last night.

“Henry is good,” O’Brien said. “Everything has gone well since the last day. We’re looking forward to seeing him again. He won’t mind soft ground. The dam Minding handled soft ground. I don’t think that will be a problem.

“His work has been lovely. Pierre Charles (Boudot) is riding him all the time and he is very happy with him.”

Joseph O’Brien has chances in both the Futurity and Debutante Stakes on a busy weekend for the Owning Hill team in both Ireland and France.

“Islandsinthestream goes for the Futurity and had a really good win over this course and distance on his debut,” he said. “We think he’ll be competitive in this class going forward. Hopefully there won’t be too much rain for him.

“We’ve declared two for the Debutante. Dollerina had a very nice debut and it’d be nice if she managed to get some blacktype here. The form of her maiden has worked out well. Kalispera is up against it but it would be great if she could sneak a place. We think she’s a progressive filly.”

As for matters in France, O’Brien is hoping Nassau Stakes second Above The Curve can take her record on those shores to three wins from four visits in the Group 1 Sumbe Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville.

“We’re hoping Above The Curve can run well and get some more Group 1 blacktype,” said O’Brien. “She’s a very solid and consistent filly at this level.”