14:25 Galway
Tuesday 10 October 2017
All14:2515:0015:3016:0016:3517:0517:35
Mervue Maiden Hurdle
- 5YO plus | 2m 2f 206y | Yielding to Soft | 15 Runners | Turf | Weighed In
- Off time: 14:25 | Winning time: 4m 57.20s
Cloth number
Odds
Horse A-Z
Show odds
Point-to-point winner showed fair form in two bumpers finishing fourth each time. Well beaten on hurdles debut at Tipperary. Should appreciate extra 2f but must step up to feature.
Former bumper winner has shown good form in two hurdle starts to date. Improved from Limerick fourth to second here over 2m½f. Stayed on as if would appreciate extra distance here. Bold bid expected.
Beat just one home when 100/1 here last time out. Gagas Horse finished 60L plus ahead of him there so can't make a case today.
Well-bred sort bolted up in a point-to-point and Navan bumper before a good third to Fayonagh in Punchestown Champion Bumper. Likely to take high rank amongst this season's novices for top connections.
Looks fully exposed having raced 13 times over hurdles. Looked a likely winner in handicaps early in the year before losing his way. Even if back to his best up against it facing unexposed rivals here.
Showed smart form in good ground bumpers in UK but made little impression on hurdles debut albeit a 30 runner race was something of a baptism of fire. Should improve but would have to quite significantly.
Impressive point-to-point winner over 3m and not disgraced in three bumpers earlier in the year. Interesting debutant but suspect his best distance will prove to be quite a bit further than this.
Ordinary form in three bumpers to date. Best effort finishing third in the middle of those at Down Royal but well beaten at Roscommon latest and was pulled up in lone point-to-point.
Met several smart individuals in both maiden hurdle starts last December so both fifth placed efforts better than immediately appear. Impressed before in a Navan bumper and no surprise if he is involved here.
Point-to-point winner on heavy ground at Durrow in early 2016. Fourth at Leopardstown followed by second at Down Royal in two bumpers left suggestion he was a stayer in the making.
Achieved a decent level of form in bumpers, winning one of seven (at Downpatrick). Should be fully fit for hurdles debut so could go well if taking to it.
Tailed off on hurdling debut in a weaker race than this and unlikely she will have gained enough for the experience to feature here.
Beaten 50L plus in all three starts to date over hurdles. Tailed off here latest at 50/1. Won a maiden point-to-point but no hint of that ability since.
60L behind Gagas Horse last time and similarly beaten out of sight before that on hurdles debut at Listowel. Little evidence of ability in bumpers and impossible to make a case for here.
Bumper win here in July suggested she could be a smart novice hurdler but jumped poorly on debut when a well beaten seventh at Listowel. Expect top trainer to sharpen that up but questions to answer in short-term.
Forecasts
Poli Roi (4/7), Gagas Horse (11/2), The Rory Story (8/1), Trainwreck (8/1), Poet Power (10/1), Stowaway Forever (12/1), Dawn Shadow (16/1), Soleglad (50/1), Danse Away (66/1), The Bronc (66/1), Drumbar Millie (100/1), Kool Lady (100/1), Lakeside Pearl (100/1), Paulie C (100/1), Rock On Barney (100/1)
A few of these have already achieved a decent level over hurdles, most notably Gagas Horse who chased home a Mullins hotpot here while looking like this extra 2f would benefit him further. The Rory Story has been off a while but wasn't disgraced in either hurdles outing and is another likely to win in this sphere soon enough. It may however pay to chance POLI ROI on his hurdles debut. An expensive point-to-point winning purchase who took high rank last in bumpers last season. It will be surprising if he isn't a graded performer as a novice so he gets the nod.
- Poli Roi
- Gagas Horse
- The Rory Story
Prize Money
1st: €8,007.002nd: €2,483.003rd: €1,183.004th: €534.005th: €208.00
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