Jim Bolger feels his runner in Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks, Sparan Nua, has similar ability to his two previous winners of the race.
The veteran trainer landed the Classic with Give Thanks in 1983 and Margarula 19 years later, and his runner this time is unbeaten in three career starts.
However, they were all this season, the daughter of Dawn Approach not making her debut until winning a Naas maiden in May at 25/1. She followed up in a four-runner race at Gowran and took the step up to Group company in her stride at Cork last month.
Saturday is her acid test, and the trainer told Friday’s Nick Luck Daily Podcast: “She probably has in her about the same ability as my previous winners, but she wouldn’t be as well tutored and I wouldn’t be surprised if inexperience somehow let her down a little bit. She’s very easy to train and there hasn’t been any cramming other than the three races.
“She’s not a big filly and doesn’t take a lot of work. She has a very good constitution, a good temperament and is very, very straightforward. She’s a great ride so there is very little downside to her as far as temperament and anything like that is concerned.”
Bolger is in what is likely to be his final season at Glebe House Sales which was put up for sale for 4,000,000 euros. A sale seems imminent with the trainer ready for the next chapter of his remarkable career.
“I will probably be training about 20 horses, and I hope amongst those will be one or two real ones. If I can achieve that and I can be freewheeling at the same time I’d be very happy with that. I have a farm in Rathvilly which is also in Carlow and I have a mile-and-a-quarter gallop there. The facilities will be very good. It’s a turn-key place to move into, I have the mares there at the moment, so we’ll be able to combine the breeding with the training.”
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