Irish racing expert Tony Keenan provides two selections on the evening card at Leopardstown on Thursday.
Irish racing tips: Thursday June 5
0.5pts win Norwalk Havoc in 5.55 Leopardstown at 16/1 (General)
1pt win Sound Of Lightning in 6.25 Leopardstown at 7/1 (Paddy Power, Bet Victor)
Leopardstown hosts the first of its traditional Thursday summer cards this evening, and Jessica Harrington will be looking to kickstart her season with several runners declared. She has only had seven winners so far this turf campaign, well behind her usual totals at this point in the year, albeit one of them came last night at the Curragh and she had a few placed horses at the recent Guineas meeting.
She had the top-rated runner on the card with Green Impact in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Glencairn Stakes at 5:55 in a race that is an early clash of the generations. He finished sixth on his only start this year in the 2,000 Guineas, a run that was presumably needed given the stable form, while also losing a shoe.
He is two from two at the track and has a decent chance but at the prices his stablemate NORWALK HAVOC is more appealing. He is also two from two at Leopardstown, and after starting last season well, he improved in the second half of the year when the tongue-tie and cheekpieces went on.
That equipment combination was first used when he was narrowly beaten in the Galway Mile, a fine effort for a three-year-old against 0lder rivals, and he did best of his group on his next start in the Cambridgeshire.
Best of all was his final run when winning the Knockaire here in a Timeform timefigure 10lbs higher than his official mark of 103 and while he seems to prefer an ease, I would not rush to pigeonhole him as a mudlark yet while there are showers forecast today.
The other black type race this evening is the King George V Cup at 5:25 and it looks priced about right. Acapulco Bay should bounce back after being unsuited by a steady pace in the Derby Trial here last month while Zahrann could prove his biggest danger.
He shaped best amidst greenness on debut at Navan in April, and getting beaten there was no disaster as he needed experience. He was again green in winning an ordinary contest at Cork next time though the visuals were taking and it looked as if further would suit. If sharpening up from that, he could prove the biggest danger to the Ballydoyle favourite.
Most of the handicaps on the card at difficult though the BoyleSports 'Home Of The Early Payout' Handicap at 6:25 makes some appeal. Bits of cases can be made for Lady In Paris and Echinacea, but SOUND OF LIGHTNING looks a filly that can prove better than her mark of 85.
She was an eye-catcher on debut over 10 furlongs at the Curragh, dwelling in the stalls and doing best of those that raced off the pace, green when asked for effort but closing all the way to the line to finish third.
That promising effort meant she was sent off favourite for a similar contest over the same trip next time, but she raced too keen and lost a shoe then connections made the somewhat surprising move to drop her back to a mile last time.
It might prove to be the making of her as she settled better and travelled powerfully, beating a strong field at Naas, while also suggesting that a slightly stiffer test like today’s race over nine furlongs would suit.
Donnacha O’Brien mentioned going for a Listed race afterwards, and she holds an entry for such a race at Navan on Saturday, but an initial mark of 85 was clearly hard to pass up for all and while she lacks handicap experience that is the case with a few of her rivals too.
Preview posted at 0900 BST on 05/06/25
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