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Kitty Matcham for me. O’Brien tends to target the fillies at this one rather than Newmarket and she had no chance held-up of a slow pace there.
With two in to set a strong pace it should be a good test which will suit her perfectly.
She might just prefer the ground a little easier but 7’s is a big price nevertheless.King of Rome ran fifth in the Ballysax when pacemaking earlier this season.
I think it may have been intended he would do the same job last Saturday but for a late change of tactics on AV.
Assuming HTN doesn’t run at Epsom and with the Ballydoyle challenge consisting of (relatively-speaking) slow Montjeu’s, they may choose to use a relay of pacemakers to ensure the stiffest of tests.
With an evening meeting at the Curragh on Derby Day this year it will be interesting to see where they go for their riders as they may not have the option of using McDonogh, Berry et al as they did last year.His (punter/bookmaker) owner was interviewed before the race on TV and said connections were not backing him primarily due to the poor record of Cheltenham Bumper winners in the race.
Mullins was interviewed after the race and said the horse had worked three times since Cheltenham ……….. didn’t work well at home on the first two occasions but was better when taken away to work last Saturday.
One of the major on-track layers was asked about the drift and said they had major liabilities on CR and EI.I think he had every chance and just wasn’t good enough.
Kinane certainly didn’t miss him inside the last furlong although those racing closest to the rail seemed to have a slight advantage tonight.
The winner won a decent Leopardstown maiden on his only start last year and could be a live Irish 2000G contender.
Tale of Two Cities didn’t do much to frank the form of REE maiden win the other day.The aptly titled ‘race bus’ runs from Busaras to all the tracks within striking range of Dublin. Leaves Dublin an hour and a half before the first race an comes back 15 mins after the last. Costs around E15 return and you can only purchase your ticket from the ticket desk on the day.
With it being Punchestown, there will be extra services and coaches will leave when they are full so no harm in being early and avoiding the worst of the traffic. A coach will probably leave after the second last if you need to get away quickly.He looks a smart prospect all the same ……. todays race was a new race and it will be interesting to see how O’Brien uses it in years to come. If he had been able to challenge on the winners outside he probably would have won as the ground definitely seemed slower nearer the rail.
I doubt it, especially as there were big numbers ‘working’.
It was pouring with rain and only those involved seemed to stay on ……….. I caught a glimpse of some of them from the car park and they seemed to be going steadily enough which is unsurpirising especially given the state of the ground.
Having often watched them work over the years after this and the next Curragh meetings the only one I can recall ever being exerted is Hawk Wing prior to his Lockinge reappearance. He beat his galloping companions by half the track one day.Free shuttle buses run from Porte Maillot (bus stops across from Metro station) each Sunday and Arc weekend. It is next to near impossible to get on one back from the racecourse after the Arc but if its a nice day, as it often is, it’s a lovely walk back through the Bois De Boulogne – takes about 45 mins though.
Brian Gleeson interviewing Ellen at Punchestown a number of years back topped any interview she has done with McCririck …………. she informed him live on TV that she had to get a loan from the Credit Union the previous week in order to have a ‘tank’ to stand.
Yes, most definitely – my main reservation is that he might miss a hurdle down the back and not being as robust as most of his opponents struggle to get back into it or use up too much energy in doing so – similar to what happened Mac’s Joy the first time he ran in the Champion.
Don’t group the mighty Hawk Wing with that pair ………. his Guineas performance was equally stunning as was his first Pattern race win in record time at the Curragh!
Very disappointing but sadly inevitable.
I travel from Ireland every year for the Ebor meeting as it’s my favourite of the year but an extra day means extra expense so will probably just go the first two days and go home Wednesday night as I now do for Cheltenham – thereby avoiding the dreaded Ladies Day and beer-swilling Friday.JP is still normally on hols in late January so I don’t imagine he will be too pushed either way ……..he was regularly absent when Istabraq was winning it.
I don’t think the ground will be any worse than soft and quite possibly better. The race is to be run on the inside track where the ground was genuinely good at Xmas and though there is rain forecast for much of the week Leopardstown often escapes the worst of it.
Bahrain Storm and Roman Villa for me.
