18:15 Laytown

Thursday 6 September 2018

All15:4516:1516:4517:1517:4518:15

Follow melbourne10racing On Instagram Handicap (45-65)

Off time: 18:16 | Winning time: 1m 10.73s

(5)

Little Clarinet^t⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 11-1| J: D W O'Connor⁽⁵⁾| T: D Marnane| OR: 66| BF| D

5/1

Knocking firmly at the door in recent runs over 5f, shaping as if this extra yardage could suit; looked a shade unfortunate not to score at Bellewstown last week (when beaten a head by today's rival Pillar).

Form: 645242

(6)

Split The Atom³¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-9| J: I J McCarthy⁽³⁾| T: D English| OR: 60| BF| D

12/1

Quiet since winning readily over 7f at Dundalk in March (7-31 on the AW), and remains a 22-race maiden on turf; worth a try on this surface, especially given that he can compete off his much lower turf mark; stablemate of Calypso Jo.

Form: 000-040

(10)

My Good Brother²⁰

Age: 9| Weight: 10-7| J: Colin Keane| T: T G McCourt| OR: 58| CD

2/1

Headed close home by an Aidan O'Brien trained winner over this trip at Dundalk latest (second), and it was a similar story on this card in 2017 when narrowly beaten by Coreckza; C&D winner in 2016, so merits considerable respect.

Form: 466702

(7)

Sweetest Taboo⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-7| J: M A Enright| T: W McCreery| OR: 58

20/1

Fairly moderate in five starts on the AW and her three wins on turf have come over 5f, so she's potentially vulnerable over 6f on sand; finished approximately 4L fifth to Pillar (Little Clarinet second) at Bellewstown (5f, good) last week.

Form: 416005

(3)

Pillar⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 10-6| J: S Foley| T: A McGuinness| OR: 57

4/1

Snapped a long losing sequence when fending off Little Clarinet by a head at Bellewstown (5f good) last week; opted not to take up a subsequent engagement at Wolverhampton and instead again locks horns with the David Marnane-trained filly.

Form: 382941

(4)

A Few Dollars More⁴⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 9-12| J: Gary Carroll| T: A Slattery| OR: 49

7/1

Has looked to be very much out of sorts since early June, and has dropped 10lb in the handicap; both previous wins have come over 5f at Cork (2015 and 2016); hard to envisage him being positively involved.

Form: 806070

(2)

Calypso Jo¹¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-8| J: E J McNamara| T: D English| OR: 45

33/1

Runner-up on debut for Kevin Ryan in February 2017 (6f Chelmsford), but woeful in six starts in Ireland (mainly Dundalk); brother to Fibresand winner Eleuthera, and stablemate of Split The Atom.

Form: 00000-0

(1)

Guiding Star^t⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 9-8| J: K J Leonard⁽³⁾| T: P J McKenna| OR: 45| D

16/1

Won just once in 33 starts (6f Fairyhouse), but has shown glimpses of ability this summer in low grade handicaps at Ayr and Bellewstown; work to do to reverse placings with Pillar and Little Clarinet.

Form: 200903

(9)

Red All Star^t⁶²

Age: 8| Weight: 9-8| J: Robbie Colgan| T: G Keane| OR: 45| CD

14/1

Bravely fended off Boxer Dunford when winning this race by a neck in 2017, and has found the minor places in 5f-6f handicaps at Dundalk with a degree of regularity since; well beaten by Sweetest Taboo and Guiding Star on turf latest (Bellewstown).

Form: 332000

(8)

Tyrconnell²⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 9-8| J: D E Sheehy⁽⁵⁾| T: S Lynam| OR: 45

13/2

Eight-race maiden; ran well until weakening late on (fifth) over an extended 7f at Tipperary last month, so shouldn't necessarily be dismissed on a different racing surface over a shorter trip, but does need to scale new heights in order to score.

Form: 0-00745

Non-Runners

Boxer Dunford⁵⁶

Weight: 10-6| Age: 5

T: D P Coakley J: Reserve 1

Mo Henry²⁵

Weight: 10-10| Age: 6

T: A Keatley J: Reserve 2

Randall's Alannah⁵⁰³

Weight: 9-11| Age: 8

T: S Fahey J: Reserve 3

Forecasts

My Good Brother (2/1), Pillar (4/1), Little Clarinet (5/1), Tyrconnell (13/2), A Few Dollars More (7/1), Split The Atom (12/1), Red All Star (14/1), Guiding Star (16/1), Sweetest Taboo (20/1), Mo Henry (25/1), Boxer Dunford (25/1), Calypso Jo (33/1), Randall's Alannah (66/1)

No shortage of Laytown form with the first and second from 2017 (Red All Star and Boxer Dunford) set to renew acquaintances should the latter be granted a run. The locally trained My Good Brother also has a strong record on the strand (2,1), and coming into this off the back of a solid Dundalk second to Royal Navy Warship is a major player. However, a race at Bellewstown last week which featured Pillar (winner), LITTLE CLARINET (second), Guiding Star (third) and Sweetest Taboo (fifth) holds the answers. The David Marnane-trained runner-up looked to be badly in need of a sixth furlong there, so expect her to be strongest at the finish today.