Meeting Review: Leopardstown - June 4th, 2008

Positives: Despite having a few quirks (he missed the break on debut and was reluctant to load here), Three Way Stretch looked a decent two-year-old in the winning the 6f maiden (traditionally a good race with recent winners including Elletelle and Holy Roman Emperor) and it would be no surprise to see him making his mark in pattern company. The form of the race can be cribbed as some of the fancied horses ran a bit below par but the fifth Comadoir and the seventh Carlito Brigante look solid yardsticks, and I certainly wouldn’t underestimate it as the runner-up was always likely to improve from his first run where he missed the break and the third has been well fancied in 2 decent races so far. His trainer is not renowned for having classy types in his yards, but this half-brother to Moon Unit looks just that and his connections should help his price in the future. Show Blessed [WON Naas, 9/7/08 - 6/1] showed up well over a trip short of his best in the 9f handicap won by Adare Manor and can strike over a distance of 10f or further. His trainer’s horses tend to run themselves into to form before winning rather than popping up out of the blue and the 8yo would also be interesting over fences off a mark of 118 – his second to Wishwillow Lord (now rated 138) at Tipperary last October looks solid form, especially with Clew Bay Cove (now 130) and Kranji (now 124) chasing the pair home.

Negatives: For the fourth time in 5 completed starts, Veidhleadoir filled a place in the 9f maiden and looked a tricky ride in the process. Not for the first time, she was well fancied and even though maidens start to get progressively (or is that regressively?!) weaker from this stage of the season, I wouldn’t be convinced she wants to put her head in front. Ferneley won a very soft Group 3 at the course last time and he’s going to be difficult to place with his penalty from now on – while not a dog, he is unreliable and can race with the choke out. 3 wins from 14 starts is hardly an impressive tally for a horse of his obvious ability.

Pointers: Mustameet is a credit to his connections and improved on his already spectacular first time out record by winning the Glencairn Stakes – his form figures on seasonal debuts now reads:1d11211 with the sole defeat coming when he hit his head on leaving the stalls in the 2006 Gladness. I really hope he stays in training as an 8yo! Power Of Future is another horse with an enviable first time out record that now reads:5112 after her neck defeat in the 2m handicap - the fifth was in a decent Newmarket maiden when she was a 33/1 second string. She is certainly handicapped to win a race on her old English form but just as she did in last year’s November Handicap, she didn’t get home over the 16f where her figures now read:0852. Her 3 career wins have come between 1m4f and 1m6f and the 5yo would be interesting if freshened up for a race over that sort of distance. In the same race, winner Queen Althea provided a notable form boost for a race she was fifth in at the Curragh on Guineas weekend and the horses that finished ahead of her would be of interest in the coming weeks. With the winner of that event, Captain Cole, apparently out for 6 months with ‘a leg’, the runner-up Ragged Staff [WON Roscommon, 8/6/08 - 3/1 ](entered at Roscommon this coming weekend, a track where he has twice run well) and the fourth Kilshannig look the best representatives of the form. Fran Berry rode a fine treble on the card and has generally been riding brilliantly lately, leaving things very tight between himself, Pat Smullen and Johnny Murtagh at the head of the jockeys’ championship. With Murtagh likely to be out of the country riding at the likes of Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood over the summer, he probably won’t have enough rides to take the title so this could come down to a scrap between Berry and the reigning champion Smullen. Smullen however is a general 11/8 for the prize while Berry is 10/1 and it doesn’t take a genius to work out where the value lies.