15:25 Gowran Park

Saturday 23 June 2018

All13:4014:1514:5015:2515:5516:3017:1017:45

First Auto Finance Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 15:26 | Winning time: 3m 47.4s

Brex Drago²⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Killian Moore| T: D P Dunne

25/1

Ex-Marco Botti inmate, finished twelfth of 18 in novice hurdle at Down Royal (2m, good) on stable debut recently sporting first-time hood (discarded) on hurdles bow. More needed.

Form: 0

Captain Cobajay¹⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: A W Short⁽⁵⁾| T: P Nolan

66/1

Beaten out of sight in both starts over timber thus far, leap of faith needed to see him playing a key role.

Form: PP3-00

Due Reward¹⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: H De Bromhead

7/1

Improved to finish modest fourth of 13 in 2m novice contest at Kilbeggan recently, capable of doing better again with experience.

Form: F/40-4

Golden Birch^h1

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: A McCurtin⁽⁵⁾| T: P Breen

100/1

Lord Shanakill gelding. Half-brother to several Flat winners, including smart sprinter Kuaicoss and useful sprinter Ritual. Makes debut.

Form:

Kaatskill Nap³¹⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Paul Townend| T: W P Mullins

2/1

91-rated Flat winner, first start for Mullins yard and looks a likely sort in this line-up, sure to be popular and will know his job.

Form:

Reaver²⁵⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Donagh Meyler| T: Miss Ellmarie Holden| BF

8/1

Useful Flat performer, twice winning on turf and reaching mark of 85, first run for yard after leaving Eve Johnson Houghton and likely trainer can get tune from him in this sphere before long.

Form:

Roibeard²⁵¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: A E Lynch| T: H De Bromhead

7/1

Another useful Flat recruit, rated mid-80s at best in that sphere. Has joined an ideal handler in bid to make a go of things in this sphere and one to pay close attention to on jumps bow.

Form:

Sherryorport^p1³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: D F O'Regan| T: J R Barry

80/1

Pulled up in novice hurdle at Wexford (2m4f, good) 31 days ago having gone off at 100/1. Cheekpieces added now, minor claims.

Form: 040-0PP

Storm Rising¹⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: D G Hogan| T: D Hogan| OR: 111

9/4

Improving sort who deserves a change of luck following a series of promising maiden hurdles since April. Likable type and should be in the mix (Entered Down Royal Friday).

Form: 769-422

Three Kings¹²⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr S Connor⁽⁷⁾| T: T E Hyde| OR: 104| BF

12/1

Best effort over timber came at Tramore on New Year's Day in testing ground over 2m, failed to complete in two chase starts since. Hard to be confident.

Form: 2/902FP-

War Room³⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: F J Hayes⁽⁷⁾| T: S M Duffy

100/1

Modest Flat winner, didn't make a lasting impact on hurdles introduction at Limerick last month having gone off massive price.

Form: 0

False Getaway^t1¹⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Phillip Enright| T: M Hourigan

50/1

Tendency to fall in point-to-points doesn't inspire much confidence, beaten 35L in a Punchestown bumper in April on rules introduction. Safer to look elsewhere.

Form: FF7-P0

Filly Mullins¹²³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: D E Mullins| T: Ms M Mullins

25/1

Fair effort last time in Clonmel novice event when finishing fifth of 12. That was on heavy going, but needs a big chunk of improvement on bumper/hurdles for meeting better ground here.

Form: 357005-

Glamorous Nellie²⁷³

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Sean Flanagan| T: Miss E Doyle

33/1

Beaten a long way at big prices on two hurdles starts so far and best watched for now if getting a run here.

Form: 00-

Go Complain^t¹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: S G McDermott| T: E Griffin

50/1

Ex-Tony Martin inmate, finished sixth of 13 in novice hurdle at Kilbeggan (2m, good) recently on first start for new handler. Has work to do with some of these.

Form: PP1/8P-6

Lady Argentum³⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: D E Browne⁽⁷⁾| T: T Gibney

22/1

Outran odds of 66/1 last month in Punchestown novice over 2m to be fourth, needs to build on that but not ruled out that she'll do just that.

Form: 64

Mary Fields⁴¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: Mr M J Sweeney⁽⁷⁾| T: N P Hennessy

100/1

Has shown flashes of promise in the point-to-point ranks, most notably when winning a 3m event on good ground in April but her three hurdle starts leave her with an awful lot to work on.

Form: 371/00-0

Non-Runners

Dark Lightning¹⁵

Weight: 11-12| Age: 5

T: S Fahey J: I J McCarthy

Youghal By The Sea²⁷⁸

Weight: 11-12| Age: 5

T: G Elliott J: D N Russell

Frazel Express¹⁰

Weight: 11-5| Age: 6

T: Peter Fahey J: K C Sexton

Getaday¹⁰

Weight: 11-12| Age: 5

T: T J Nagle-Jr J: Brian Hayes

Elegant Dan³⁴

Weight: 11-12| Age: 5

T: D M O'Brien J: Reserve 2

Knockatoo Hill⁴⁴²

Weight: 11-5| Age: 6

T: P Cluskey J: Reserve 3

Forecasts

Kaatskill Nap (2/1), Storm Rising (9/4), Youghal By The Sea (4/1), Due Reward (7/1), Roibeard (7/1), Reaver (8/1), Three Kings (12/1), Frazel Express (14/1), Getaday (20/1), Lady Argentum (22/1), Filly Mullins (25/1), Brex Drago (25/1), Glamorous Nellie (33/1), Elegant Dan (33/1), False Getaway (50/1), Go Complain (50/1), Captain Cobajay (66/1), Dark Lightning (66/1), Knockatoo Hill (66/1), Sherryorport (80/1), War Room (100/1), Mary Fields (100/1), Golden Birch (100/1)

Smart Flat performer KAATSKILL NAP could well be up to the task on his first attempt over obstacles having joined the powerhouse at Closutton. Youghal By The Sea shaped well on sole outing over timber at Galway last year and would provide the champion jockey with an apt winner while Roibeard and Reaver were both of some note on the Flat and the former, in particular, is in excellent hands for this career-change.