Tony Keenan previews the Summer Series card at the Curragh and has one selection.
Irish racing tips: Sunday August 16
0.5pt e.w. Admiral Will Brown in the Curragh 15:55 at 10/1 (General)
There is another of the Summer Series at the Curragh this afternoon, a group of meetings that naturally lead on to the Irish Champions Festival, with the Newbridge Silverware Royal Whip Stakes at 16:25 the most obvious trial for the next month’s big races.
It is a weak renewal, however, with only A Boy Named Susie up to this sort of level. He should win but is a short price to do so despite only having won once in eight starts and not always having convinced with his attitude. Cowardofthecounty, who has found consistency this year since being gelded, may be his biggest danger.
The other stakes race on the card is the William Hill Irish EBF Juvenile Sprint Stakes at 16:55. Armor Supreme is the form pick but is coming off a break, while both Concorde Landed and April Mist can improve on their recent runs at Naas when neither seemed to handle the ridges of the straight track there. A flatter five furlongs should suit both.
Perhaps the solid one is Grayrobin who looks well-suited by this minimum trip. He was always in control when making the running last time at Cork, a race that produced a decent Timeform timefigure, and her trainer Katie McGivern does very well with her runners over five furlongs.
She is a breeze-up consigner, and that seems to have translated to her runners on the track, her record over five furlongs being 10 winners from 45 runners for a level-stakes profit of 40.41 points. Much of that success has come vis Kendall Roy, but Grayrobin looks a similar type.
Soulful Diva ran on the same Naas card as Concorde Landed and April Mist and seemed ill at ease on the ridges. Other things went wrong too, as she was bumped leaving the stalls and found herself too far back on the wrong side of the track. Her previous run this season at Fairyhouse was promising, and five furlongs might be her trip, so it would be no surprise to see her outrun her odds, for all that the likes of Mary Shoelaces and Harry’s Hill have obvious claims.
The 15:55, the Tote Guarantee, Never Beaten by SP Handicap, is another competitive race. Thyer is from a yard having a good season and has his chance, the drop in trip likely to suit given the keen way he raced last time. His price looks about right and he may not get his own way in the lead given there is other pace in the field.
ADMIRAL WILL BROWN is from another from a yard in form and looks a little overpriced. He had three quick maiden runs for his previous yard last autumn, before returning for handicaps this year. Gambled on for his first start of the season at Roscommon in May, he seemed stretched by the mile-and-a-half trip before moving to Patrick Magee mid-season.
Following a short break, he dropped to 10 furlongs at Navan in July to win, impressing with how he went through the race, the second and third running well since. He was again upped in trip last time at Galway, but overraced and didn’t get home, that looking a stronger race than this afternoon. Down in distance and class, he should be more competitive.
There is Galway form in the 14:10 as well, the Irish EBF Median Sires Series Maiden, and perhaps Cromane can do better than Heart Of You from their meeting at Ballybrit. The Joe Murphy runner was off a break then having shaped quite well at Cork in May and should be more suited by this six-furlong trip than her reopposing rival here.
Preview published at 09:10 BST on 16/08/26
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