Positives: Despite a few of the market leaders disappointing, the opening maiden at Down Royal is likely to prove informative and I was taken by the performance of the third Oh So Humbel. Keen on the way to post and in the race, the locally-trained 6yo certainly had a willing partner for his front-running tactics in 7lb claimer Andrew Thornton who has already shown a liking for getting on with things in his young career. Considering the way he raced, the Brian Hamilton-trained gelding did very well to hold on for third and should be winning if learning to settle better. The opening 7f maiden at Leopardstown had some interesting newcomers but most failed to shine as the experienced Oasis Sunset stole the race from the front on ground it was hard to come from behind on. One horse that did make up considerable late ground was the Tommy Stack-trained Wanna and she is should benefit from a hike in trip or more forceful tactics; a well-related daughter of Danehill Dancer, she will certainly be winning races. Solwhit will be an obvious one for a big handicap hurdle following his win the November Handicap but the hurdler who really caught my eye in that race was Won In The Dark and is probably the key horse to follow of the weekend because his excellent run in fifth was achieved with almost everything against him. He was 13lbs out of the handicap, having his first run since April on ground he doesn’t like and sweated up and raced keenly yet still managed to run a cracker, finishing just outside the frame. This run will tee him up nicely for a return to hurdling and though not 100% straightforward (he has swished his tail in the past), the 4yo will surely be able to exploit a mark of 135 over sticks. The Greatwood at Cheltenham’s Open Meeting looks an ideal target and he would also have a better chance of getting his favoured ground in England. I wasn’t at Cork on Sunday but it was impossible not to be impressed by the run of Alpha Ridge [WON 7/1 - Gowran Park, 22/1/09] in the 3-mile novice hurdle as Paul Nolan’s 6yo went off in front and simply broke his rivals’ hearts with a display of excellent jumping and relentless galloping. The run put me in the mind of Celestial Wave and like that excellent mare, Alpha Ridge is very well-suited by bad ground – his form figures on soft or worse read:13111. It will take a very smart horse to beat him when conditions are in his favour like they were at Cork.
Negatives: In getting turned over at odds of 6/4 in the Down Royal opener, Indian Spring extended his losing streak to 14 starts and confirmed impressions that he is a pig. I can’t have a horse that has twice finished second in a Grade 1 yet can’t win a maiden and the way he travelled best of all at the third last only to find little says that he’s not in love with the game. He’d even had a run on the flat to bring him to peak fitness, so that can’t be used as an excuse either. Silverhand may have produced one of the most eye-catching racecourse debuts in recent years when overcoming trouble-in-running to win at Punchestown last October but he’s been hugely disappointing since and ran the race of an ungenuine horse at Down Royal on Saturday. Held up and racing lazily throughout, he was first off the bridle yet gave little response to Paul Carberry’s urgings but deigned to run on late in the day when the jockey had all but given up hope. This isn’t the first time the 4yo has shown temperament – he was none willing to go by Beau Michael at Fairyhouse on his second run – and looks one to swerve. Al Qasi didn’t get the run of the race in the Knockaire Stakes but there’s no way he would have beaten the impressive Almass anyway and the fact remains that he’s forgotten how to win; after a career that began with 4 wins from 6 starts, he’s won just once in 14 outings since. He runs in Ireland enough for him to be interest to us and looks a bit of a twilight horse, caught between handicaps and pattern races, who perhaps doesn’t really see out 7f.
Pointers: Chateau D’eau has yet to deliver on the promise of his 2 bumper wins over hurdles but there were again extenuating circumstances at Down Royal; not for the first time, slow ground was against him and he looked keyed up for his seasonal debut. A drifter in the betting, he raced far too keenly and was never going to get home but should benefit from this experience and would certainly have possibilities back on a sound surface. Despite being run at a farcical pace and less than 3ls covering the first five home, I’m going to take a contrarian view and suggest that the valuable 2m Down Royal handicap hurdle will prove to be a decent piece of form. The winner Sole Bonne Femme may well have gotten a soft lead but his defeat of Save The Bacon at Navan last February suggested he was well-in on 102 while the world and his wife knows that Arc Bleu (backed from a morning price of 2/1 into 9/10 on track) is a blot on the weights on 104. He’ll need to brush up on his jumping to exploit that rating though a step up in trip could also help while the second Right Or Wrong has no problems in the department – he jumped expertly and his showing the benefits of an off-season wind operation. The fourth Lazio had run in two very hot races before turning out here and though tricky to win with, the 7yo is certainly on a decent mark while Quartino gives the form a very solid look. With the main contenders finishing in a heap, the handicapper can’t be too harsh and I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on the above horses in the coming weeks. Race conditions left the 140-rated Finger Onthe Pulse with an impossible task of giving the 151-rated Noland 3lbs in the Grade 3 Chase but the 7yo didn’t help himself by sweating up beforehand and doing plenty in front. He actually ran a cracker to finish second (beaten 12ls) and it will be interesting to see what the English handicapper does with him when the Paddy Power weights are revealed this week – going back left-handed will certainly suit (all but 1 of his 7 career wins have come that way around) as will some decent ground. With the first four finishing in a pile and the third Masterofthehorse running poorly in the Racing Post Trophy, the form of the Beresford Stakes looked pretty dubious until the runner-up Mourayan gave it a timely boost by landing an admittedly weak renewal of the Eyrefield Stakes in comfortable fashion. The horse that defeated him at the Curragh, his stable-mate Sea The Stars, has always been well-regarded by the Oxx camp and though his form isn’t anything wonderful, he has impressed with his way of going about things thus far in his career. Mythical Prince was fancied in the closing 1m4f handicap but Noel Meade’s charge again ran poorly left-handed, beating only 1 rival home, his figures on left-handed courses now reading:7900. Excluding maidens, his figures right-handed are a much better:11221 and he would be of interest when racing that way around again.
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