Weekend Racing Review: Gowran Park, Leopardstown, Navan

Positives: Joe Crowley’s stable had been painfully out of form before Saturday’s meeting at Gowran (only 1 jumps winner since the previous April from 96 runners) but that didn’t stop Knock On The Head landing a touch from a lenient-looking chase rating of 110. A 13lb higher-mark tempers enthusiasm for him next time out but I’d be keen to keep the runner-up Mustangsallyrally on side. On the surface of things, Tom Mullins’ 8yo is bloody inconsistent but a closer look at his form says otherwise; his record over fences is an impressive:32212 while soft ground or worse (form figures:F0113031612 in handicaps) and the assistance of Emmet Mullins (4 wins and 3 places from 12 rides) are important to him. While he wouldn’t have beaten the favourite under any sort of ride, I suspect Mullins hit the front too soon on Mustangsallyrally – the 5lb claimer had been very keen to hold on to him until late when they last won at Fairyhouse. Up 4lbs for this, he will be of significant interest when granted his conditions in ordinary handicap chases. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to back horses coming off strange mid-season breaks when there have been ample opportunities for them to run; such animals have almost invariably met with some training problem or another. Clarified was one such horse in the 2m2f beginners chase at Gowran and he certainly ran like he needed the run; travelling well to look like the most likely winner to the second last only to blow up in the closing stages. He’s obviously been brought back to something like his best and will be hard to beat in a maiden event next time; I’d be especially interested if he renews rivalry with the runner-up Captain Conflict next time as he’s open to more improvement than that one who has a dubious attitude anyway. Though his connections are unlikely to ever make him a price, Solwhit [WON 6/1 - Aintree, 4/4/09] fairly took the breath away with his turn-of-foot between the last two obstacles in the Red Mills Trial Hurdle where he settled the race in a matter of strides and all this despite the testing surface. I don’t know how Charles Byrnes would have explained his lacklustre effort on similar ground at Thurles in December (where he got turned over at 1/3) in light of this performance but the stewards didn’t see fit to call him. His trainer’s decision not to enter him in this year’s Champion Hurdle is an interesting one – he apparently wants to keep him for next year’s renewal – but he certainly wouldn’t be out of place at the top table on this evidence. Cooldine [WON 9/4 - Cheltenham, 11/3/09] got rid of any doubts about his ability to go left-handed in winning the Moriarty at Leopardstown and in the process marked himself down as a serious candidate for the RSA Chase. His form may not be quite at that level yet but that wouldn’t concern me at all – the Cheltenham staying event is most often won by a horse that improves for the test on the day rather a runner that has been slogging through bad ground all winter, though Denman is an obvious exception. As a multiple graded winning novice hurdler who finished fourth to Blazing Bailey at Punchestown it’s not as if he’s lacking in class, and with just 3 chase starts under his belt he’s open to any amount of improvement. His trainer’s exceptional record in the race is another string to his bow. Despite his status as a hunter chaser, Agus A Vic is one of my favourite horses in training and he confirmed his position at the top the Irish hunting scene with a career best in the Raymond Smith Memorial. The horse is a punters’ friend as he never wins by much, ensuring his price isn’t too short when he next runs. Jamie Codd got him jumping like never before and I sincerely hope he keeps the ride; the combination should be hard to beat in this sort of contest for the rest of the season. There’s not much to report from the rescheduled Navan fixture on Monday though Light Sentence might be worth watching now that he’s had the required three runs to get a handicap mark. The fact that he’s been getting further from the judge in each start may be a worrying trend but his run here came after a break and Ken Whelan (who’s total of 1 win since the turn of 2008 tells its own story) wasn’t too keen on putting him into the race at any point. The form of his Listowel run in September behind decent types Glenquest and Final Question suggests that he can win a small handicap, probably on better ground and with a bigger name jockey up.

Negatives: Following an early career where he won 6 of his first 8 starts, Clopf has been hugely disappointing, winning just once in 14 runs. His unplaced run in the Red Mills Hurdle, where he travelled strongly into the race only to find zilch off the bit and finished 16ls behind the winner in fifth, was the final straw for me and he should carry a wealth warning in future. That is run came at a time when his yard was on fire (6 winners and 5 places from 19 runners in the past fortnight) should be the final nail in his coffin. Robbie Hennessy paid 200,000gns for Donegal at the Horses-In-Training Sales but that will be money badly spent if he persists with the 111-rated flat horse over hurdles as he simply can’t jump. His trainer has said in an At The Races interview that his hurdling improved at lot from his Leopardstown debut but I find that very hard to believe and his best chance of future success will be back on the level where he would surely be a match for the second tier of Irish stayers. Not for the first time, Forpadydeplasterer travelled best of all in his race only to find little when push came to shove in the Moriarty. His overall record may be one of consistency but when you look at the horses he’s beaten in victory (the likes of Mick The Man and Cork All Star) you have to ask if he’s going to be a perennial bridesmaid. For me, he looks a weak finisher.

Pointers: The general post-race feeling from the connections of Ebadiyan was that John Cullen hadn’t gone hard enough in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle; certainly he never put any distance of ground between himself and his pursuers and the grey did stay on well in the finish. A look at race times however suggests otherwise – the 8-runner field covered the course over 7 seconds faster than a 16-strong field of experienced handicappers later in the afternoon and that race certainly didn’t appear slowly run as Mission Possible blazed a trail from the front. This suggests that the juveniles put up a serious Triumph Hurdle trial here; most of the talk has been about the strength in depth of the English challenge but it would be unwise to underestimate the Irish contingent on this evidence. The one to take from the race is obvious, the winner Jumbo Rio; his jumping has been impeccable in 2 hurdles starts barring an error at the second last here but the way he came back on the bridle suggested he has plenty of class. Though he had a run of placed efforts on the flat, there was nothing to suggest he was ungenuine (high praise coming from these cynical quarters!) and is in the hands of one of the great Cheltenham trainers in Edward O’Grady. Much of the post race analysis of the aforementioned handicap hurdle concentrated on the nightmare run endured by the eventual third Alexander Severus but his price will surely be tight enough next time after this and he’s shown more than a few signs of temperament in 3 Irish starts already. It may prove more profitable to focus on his age-group as both he and Flag Of Honour were involved in the finish, suggesting that the four-year-olds may not be at all badly treated in handicaps in the coming months. There has certainly been plenty of evidence of this being the case already, with Alexander Severus leading home a trio of juveniles in an open maiden at the last Leopardstown meeting being just one example.