17:30 Sligo

Thursday 10 August 2017

All17:3018:0518:4019:1019:4020:1520:45

Clayton Hotel Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 17:30 | Winning time: 4m 6.70s

Easy Boy^t²⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: C D Timmons⁽³⁾| T: P Martin

50/1

Dual winner on the Flat over 1m and running well over 1m2f in recent times. Probably prefer quicker ground than is forecast here and worth a check in the market on hurdles debut.

Form:

Munstead Pride⁴⁴⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Keith Donoghue| T: G Elliott| BF

25/1

Well held in the main over hurdles but fared better on good ground the last twice. Beaten 14L into fourth as favourite over an extended 2m3f at Clonmel last time out and returns from a break here.

Form: 768/44-

Cluan Dara⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Danny Mullins| T: J P Ryan

9/1

Placed in a couple of bumpers earlier this year but well beaten on hurdling debut at Ballinrobe (good) in May and a similar result returned to bumpers at Galway (soft) at the weekend.

Form: 422-454

Coeur Joyeux^t⁵⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: L P Dempsey| T: J P Dempsey| OR: 118| BF

5/1

Placed seven times in maiden hurdles and finished runner-up over 3m at Punchestown (good) on final outing for Sandra Hughes. Disappointing on debut for this yard in first time blinkers (absent here) at Roscommon (yielding-to-soft) in June. Interesting runner in this contest.

Form: 5223-27

Hardback⁸⁷²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: D N Russell| T: J P O'Brien

16/1

Still held chances when unseating his rider in a point-to-point at Rathcannon (good) on debut in March 2015. Unraced since then and worth a check in the market for leading connections on rules debut.

Form: U/

Pershing Missile³⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Sean Flanagan| T: N Meade

9/1

Placed twice from four starts in bumpers including on soft-to-heavy ground at Limerick on debut. Beaten 17L into seventh on hurdling debut over an extended 2m at Roscommon (good-to-yielding) a month ago and more needed here.

Form: 35-247

Sharps Choice¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Ruby Walsh| T: W P Mullins| BF

6/4

Placed four times over hurdles including when runner-up to a subsequent winner at Killarney (good) over 2m4f on his penultimate outing. Beaten 2L at Wexford (yielding) over this trip last time and one for the shortlist here.

Form: 7-3U522

Well Joey^p1¹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: A W Short⁽⁷⁾| T: Mrs P Dobbs| OR: 102

9/1

Career best effort when finishing 1¼L third over an extended 2m1f at Ballinrobe (good) in a maiden hurdle on his most recent outing. Interesting if repeating that effort with cheekpieces applied for the first time.

Form: U05-663

Silver Star^h⁸⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 11-2| J: Paul Townend| T: A Fleming

5/1

Placed on the Flat as a two-year-old in France and ran a fair race when fourth of 18 over 2m1f at Killarney (good) on debut for this yard and over hurdles back in May. Interesting to see how he fares here.

Form: 4

Aimee Kate³

Age: 4| Weight: 10-9| J: R M Short⁽⁷⁾| T: Peter Fahey

66/1

Well held in four starts so far including on hurdling debut at Cork (yielding) over this trip last time out. Probably best watched in this contest.

Form: 0660

Non-Runners

Now Let Go⁸³²

Weight: 11-5| Age: 7

T: S R B Crawford J: A E Lynch

Forecasts

Sharps Choice (6/4), Silver Star (5/1), Coeur Joyeux (5/1), Now Let Go (6/1), Cluan Dara (9/1), Well Joey (9/1), Pershing Missile (9/1), Hardback (16/1), Munstead Pride (25/1), Easy Boy (50/1), Aimee Kate (66/1)

SHARPS CHOICE ran well when finishing runner-up at Wexford last time and can open his account over hurdles by taking this opening contest. Coeur Joyeux has had more chances than most here and can put a disappointing effort on his debut for this yard behind him by finishing runner-up here with the long absent Now Let Go the selection to finish third on her hurdling debut.