Matt Brocklebank picks out three horses in the Curragh handicaps this weekend who could be worth keeping on side.
QUADRUPLE – 5.50 Curragh, Friday
Ger Lyons had high hopes for QUADRUPLE heading into this season and while he’ll obviously be disappointed with how things have panned out for the filly so far, not all would appear to be lost. Granted, she’s barely beaten a rival home in two Listed outings at Gowran and Navan since resuming in early-May but the daughter of Frankel now has her sights lowered into the JJ Mahon & Sons Handicap. The last time she ran in a handicap she was beaten half a length in second off a mark of 89 and can now compete from 86, while Lyons has opted to drop her back to seven furlongs and fit cheekpieces for the first time. She has some decent form at this trip (beaten a nose at Leopardstown last July) and the additional headgear could easily spark the Juddmonte filly back to life in a big way.
TROPICAL RETREAT – 4.40 Curragh, Saturday
Three-year-olds have won two of the four runnings of this handicap and it could pay to focus on the younger generation again. Tom Mullins' filly TROPICAL RETREAT is quite raw and evidently a work in progress but she still has plenty of potential after just a handful of career starts to this point. She looked back on track at Fairyhouse last time (replay below), after the hood experiment at the Curragh the time before was aborted, and could be able to kick on. She's not been the best away from the stalls so far but stepping back up to six furlongs appeared to help earlier this month and the handicapper hasn't gone overboard in bumping her mark up just 2lb to 71. If they can just time her run a little better then I'm sure she can land on a nice handicap before the year's out as the talent is there.
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FAIR TAXES – 3.30 Curragh, Sunday
The Rockingham is always very competitive but hopefully the progressive FAIR TAXES has been kept back for this pot which would come as no surprise given his trainer Ross O'Sullivan - 'born and bred' on the Curragh - loved nothing more than sending out winners here. The four-year-old gelding looked to be fighting a losing battle at one stage at Navan earlier in the month but eventually got up to win by quite a cosy neck and he's only gone up a couple of pounds for his troubles. The son of Exceed And Excel seems to like top of the ground and the stiff five furlongs here, with a strong pace to chase, should be right up his street.
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