Fran Berry's Irish Eyecatchers

SHODA (Joseph O’Brien)

5th at Ballinrobe, June 23

Shoda ran in the final race at Ballinrobe the other week and it was her performance in fifth that was most noteworthy given her lack of a recent outing compared to all of her rivals. Held up initially, she was outpaced on the sharp, right-handed circuit before staying on stoutly inside the final furlong in a blanket finish for the minor places.

It was her first run on the Flat since last September and was a very good start to her campaign. She won her maiden at the Galway Festival and that seven-day meeting is obviously on the horizon again at the end of the month. She could be aimed there or may have the option of going to Killarney before then.

She will be primed to win a staying handicap, possibly over two miles, on the back of this comeback run and could be able to make hay well into the summer and autumn too.

NEW ZEALAND (Aidan O’Brien)

7th at the Curragh, June 28

Some talented juveniles have made their debuts in the opening race on Pretty Polly Stakes day at the Curragh, and the two Aidan O’Brien-trained horses who fought out the finish this year, Dorset and Benvenuto Cellini, could be quite smart.

However, with a view to one who could be better value on his next start it is the Ballydoyle third-string, New Zealand, who makes most appeal having finished seventh on debut. He showed inexperience and greenness, being ridden along from quite a way out, but when the penny began to drop he finished off to good effect and looked to be learning on the job.

The speed was holding up on the track over Derby weekend so it was a commendable performance all things considered. The son of Frankel could be hard to beat on his second outing with this initial experience behind him.

HIPOP DE LOIRE (Willie Mullins)

4th at Roscommon, July 1

After Derby weekend, the show moved on back to the west of Ireland and there was a good card at Roscommon on Tuesday evening. The feature Lenebane Stakes had a decent look to it pre-race and although favourite Purple Lily ran way below expectations in seventh, it was the performance of last year’s Sky Bet Ebor fifth Hipop De Loire that really caught the eye.

We’ve only seen him race twice for current connections, finishing second in a maiden hurdle at Galway last summer before that unlucky effort at York. Not seen on the track since then, he was held up and briefly looked like getting involved, but he didn’t get a perfect trip and then wasn't unduly punished by Colin Keane in the closing stages.

One would think his medium-term target will be a return to the Knavesmire and he could always take in another hurdle run at Galway before then, but wherever he turns up he’ll be a horse to follow for the rest of the year.

SIDIZA (Dermot Weld)

3rd at Roscommon, July 1

It’s interesting that connections have kept Navan maiden winner Sidiza in training as a four-year-old and she ran well in third over 10 furlongs on her comeback at Roscommon.

Running off top weight on her first outing of the year, she shaped like a ready-made future winner when stepped back up to a mile and a half. She could be a big improver over middle-distances from her mark of 80 so, given her connections, look out for her at Galway as well towards the end of the month.

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