Raadobarg makes a winning debut for Johnny Murtagh

Nua Healthcare Irish Lincolnshire preview & Timeform tip

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Mon March 18, 2024 · 2y ago

Preview and Timeform verdict for Monday's Nua Healthcare Irish Lincolnshire from the Curragh.

4.10 Curragh - Timeform Verdict:

Lots with chances. TOSEN WISH looks the pick of the Adrian McGuinness trio on the back of his good Dundalk second last time (form worked out well) so gets the nod at the chief expense of the returning C&D scorer Rahmi, who is weighted to have a big say. Chazzesmee and Raadobarg are two others who can make their presence felt in this very open handicap.

Tosen Wish
Rahmi
Chazzesmee

Wish upon a star

Since winning the Nua Healthcare Irish Lincolnshire with Bowerman in 2020, trainer Ado McGuinness has gone close in two of the last three years.

The following season the best that his representatives could manage was tenth but Casanova returned the following year to fill fourth spot at 40/1 and went even closer in 2023, finishing a short-head and a neck behind Lattam with the pair split by another McGuinness runner in Saltonstall with stablemates finishing fifth, sixth, eighth and tenth.

Current Option was only 23rd but is back for another crack at the Premier Handicap and will be joined by stable stalwart Casanova and Tosen Wish, the mount of Declan McDonogh.

Tosen Wish won two of his first three starts for other yards but initially struggled on joining McGuinness until being gelded last summer; that operation and the application of cheekpieces transformed his fortunes and he signed off for the season with three good runs on artificial surfaces at Newcastle, Southwell and Dundalk. The return to racing on grass shouldn't affect him and he has soft ground form although he's never raced on ground as testing as the Curragh is expected to be on Monday.

Casanova hasn't scored since 2021 and has come a long way down the weights having struggled in the second half of last season. The eight-year-old was rated 97 when lining up last year but that rating has tumbled to 85. He'd had a pipe opener prior to last year's renewal but comes here a fresh horse with plenty to prove.

It's a similar story with Current Option who kicked off the last campaign on 103 but takes his chance at a course where he's never won in 13 attempts - although he has finished second three times - from a perch of 88.

Laura Joy picks apart the pedigrees of the first 2yo race of the domestic season

They have plenty of back form and so, too, does Raadobarg, winner of this prize in 2022 on his first start for Johnny Murtagh. The top-weight is now with George Boughey, producing a string of consistent performances that saw his handicap rating stay more or less unchanged which leaves him 7lbs higher than when lifting this trophy so jockey David Egan could have his work cut out.

Morning line favourite Chazzesmee may be the same age but has had fewer than half as many starts in a truncated career which nevertheless, has resulted in a career high mark for the heavy ground winner following his C&D second when last sighted in July. Fozzy Stack has only sent out one runner in 2024 but started last spring strongly and is well represented on the opening day of the season.

Murtagh is represented by Rahmi, the mount of Ben Coen, and Take Heart.

Rahmi will wear a tongue tie on this seasonal return. Sent off the 4/1 favourite when two places behind Chazzesmee in early July; he was slightly disappointing thereafter but that, at least, has resulted in a slip in the weights and although untested on ground this testing being a son of Pivotal out of a Selkirk mare offers hope that he will handle conditions.

Coen has ridden Take Heart in four of his five starts but the last three of those came over 10 furlongs and this shorter trip isn't certain to suit a horse described by his trainer as 'a slow developer'.

Joseph O'Brien was on the mark at last week's Cheltenham Festival with Lark In The Mornin and has his sights set on another big handicap with Snapraeterea, a soft ground Listed winner last October.

Assistant Sean Corby told irishracing.com: "The slower the ground the better for him, you'd imagine he would have a good chance.

"He's a classy horse and he was running well towards the end of last season, so hopefully he is still in that form."

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