14:10 Fairyhouse – Grid
The Melbourne Cup partnership of Lloyd Williams and Joseph O’Brien continue to shine brightly with juvenile GRID running on debut for the pair in the opening 7-furlong maiden at Fairyhouse.
It’s a small field of five runners with excellent young jockey Shane Crosse taking off 3lbs from our selection, a son of Siyouni, out of a Galileo mare, Toi Et Moi. That 3lb allowance should be beneficial against the Aidan O’Brien-trained Ontario, who is the only rival with experience following a 10th place finish at Naas last month.
The trip and ground shouldn’t be an issue for Grid on pedigree and it’s been extremely encouraging to see Joseph O’Brien’s horses spark into life over the past two weeks. Pretty Gorgeous and Snapraeterea were nicely-backed juveniles who won on debut for the O’Brien team on Thursday at Bellewstown and any market support would be a positive for our selection.
Reve De Vol is another son of Siyouni in the race for Dermot Weld, with Jessica Harrington running Sword Zorro and Noel Meade saddling Wonder Spirit.
14:45 Fairyhouse – Afterglow
Several of these rivals in this 12-furlong fillies maiden raced against each other at the Curragh just over three weeks ago and AFTERGLOW can break her maiden here for trainer John Oxx.
The Godolphin-owned filly was last at the 3-furlong pole and made excellent headway in the closing furlong to finish fifth and just behind today’s rival Oh So True, who also caught the eye on that occasion in third. However, Donnacha O’Brien’s filly disappointed back at HQ recently and Afterglow could represent some value in the betting under jockey Ross Coakley.
The daughter of Teofilo will appreciate the extra two furlongs today and give Oxx another winner this week after I Know I Can won at Sligo on Thursday. The other Godolphin-owned filly, Maid’s Cap wasn’t beaten far despite finishing eighth on debut at Roscommon and now races in a visor for trainer Willie McCreery and could reach the places.
Aidan O’Brien runs Prose, who finished behind stable-mate Ennistymon at Leopardstown in early June, which looks good form, while Rosa Albertine, Royal Free Hotel and Zofar Zogood are all open to further improvement.
14:30 Cork – Revolutme
The Tom Cooper-trained juvenile Zoom Call would be the most appropriate winner considering the increase in use for the visual platform in recent times.
The trainer wouldn’t be known for first time out two-year-old winners, but it’s interesting that former champion jockey Colin Keane has been booked to ride and hopefully she runs a nice race. This auction maiden won’t take much winning and experience might just be beneficial with twice-raced REVOLUTME my selection for the in-form Johnny Murtagh stable.
The daughter of Fast Company finished seventh on her latest start at Roscommon and the drop down to 5 furlongs looks ideal for the mount of jockey Danny Sheehy.
She broke well in that 7 furlong maiden 13 days ago and was still leading at the 2-furlong pole, before getting tired and fading into mid-division behind winner, No Stopping Her.
Murtagh has trained several winners this week and has a 23% strike-rate with his juveniles at Cork in recent years and similar forward tactics can see her claim this race – with Stop On Red, Blueberry Faygo and Powerstown looking the more interesting dangers.
15:40 Cork – Lady Penelope
The Joseph O’Brien team has been in excellent form with several winners this week and his LADY PENELOPE can strike in the Listed Sweet Mimosa Stakes this Sunday. The three-year-old is getting weight from some older-rivals and has improved nicely from her juvenile campaign to earn an official rating of 103, with jockey Declan McDonagh in the saddle.
She broke her maiden at Down Royal last August before finishing second in Listed company at Ayr in the Rosebery Stakes a month later. That performance saw her contest two races in France to end her season when fourth in Group 2 company at Maisons-Laffitte and fifth in a Listed event at Chantilly.
She travelled impressively on her comeback run when victorious in the Listed Polonia Stakes at Naas 15 days ago and once again faces You’resobeauiful. The daughter of Night Of Thunder has some scope about her and despite giving 3lbs to her Fozzy Stack rival today, she will appreciate the small increase in trip.
Precious Moments and Punita Arora were further down the field at Naas and unlikely to reverse the form. Meanwhile recent Naas maiden winner Pronouncement is an interesting challenger who could reach the places for the in-form Johnny Murtagh.
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Irish meeting tips summary:
14:10 Fairyhouse – Grid
14:45 Fairyhouse – Afterglow
14:30 Cork – Revolutme
15:40 Cork – Lady Penelope
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