19:45 Clonmel

Thursday 18 April 2019

All15:5516:3017:0517:4018:1518:4519:1519:45

Next Evening Meeting May 16th Handicap (45-65)

Off time: 19:45 | Winning time: 3m 45.40s

Conron¹⁵⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: Shane Foley| T: Mrs J Harrington| OR: 65| D

13/2

Punchestown maiden hurdle winner in October last year followed up by finishing fifth of six beaten 17L behind Champion hurdle winner Espoir D'Allen in a Grade 3 contest at Naas when last seen in November. One for the shortlist.

Form: 00000/4-

Elusive Exclusive⁴³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-12| J: Gavin Ryan⁽⁷⁾| T: P J F Murphy| OR: 63

33/1

Eight-race maiden on the Flat, well held in two starts on turf over different trips last summer. Well held at Dundalk on the AW last month and plenty to find on recent offerings.

Form: 58-89

Cassells Rock¹⁸

Age: 9| Weight: 9-10| J: Seamie Heffernan| T: D P Nagle| OR: 61| D

50/1

Winner of two of his 14 Flat starts on turf. Has more recently been seen running between the flags without success on the point-to-point circuit. Looks vulnerable in this company.

Form: 719/000-

Black Label^v¹³

Age: 8| Weight: 9-9| J: Ronan Whelan| T: A McGuinness| OR: 60| D

14/1

Better Flat form is at Dundalk on the AW as the Medicean gelding is just one from 28 on turf. Capable of mixing it but liable to find a couple of tougher sorts in this contest.

Form: 2450-13

Sleepy Head^h³⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 9-6| J: Gary Halpin| T: P J Flynn| OR: 57| BF

16/1

Running well in defeat over shorter trips on the AW at Dundalk over the winter hitting the frame with great regularity. Significantly up in trip and improved effort over this trip would not surprise.

Form: 252-230

Ineffable^t²⁴³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-5| J: Ross Coakley| T: R Sweeney| OR: 56| D

33/1

Winner of one of his 12 Flat starts on turf and struggled somewhat when last seen in August finishing 26L adrift of Match My Fire. Hard to construct much of a case for the Fastnet Rock gelding.

Form: 010850-

Union Gap¹³⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 9-4| J: Colin Keane| T: N Meade| OR: 57

5/1

Improving Canford Cliffs gelding over hurdles towards the end of the year but remains a four-race maiden on the Flat. Worth a market check from in form yard.

Form: 0560

Ringo Kid^t²⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 9-3| J: Ben Coen⁽⁵⁾| T: Mrs O Byrne| OR: 54

7/1

Running well in defeat on the AW at Dundalk last month finishing second of 11 beaten ¾L behind Black Label. Could go well without troubling the judge.

Form: 720/532

Courtin Bb¹³³

Age: 9| Weight: 9-0| J: M A Enright| T: P J Duffy| OR: 51

25/1

Lightly raced five-race maiden on the Flat, four of those defeats coming on turf. Generally disappointed in a number of hurdle starts last year and hard to see her making any significant impact here.

Form: 73-48

Mastermind⁴⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 8-13| J: Declan McDonogh| T: C O'Brien| OR: 50| BF| D

7/2

Last seen on the Flat finishing fourth of 18 beaten ½L in a bunch finish on the line at Galway over 1m4f in October. Hurdling and chasing without success since, but a big player here back on the level.

Form: 06-4334

Amadeus^p⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 8-12| J: Gary Carroll| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 51

6/1

56-rated handicapper on the Flat for trainer Richard Fahey and has finally found some form on the level and over hurdles recently. Looks well placed by Champion hurdle winning trainer.

Form: 4850-92

Molly Kaye^p⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 8-12| J: T P Madden⁽³⁾| T: S M Duffy| OR: 49

7/1

13-race maiden on the Flat with eight of those defeats coming on turf. Ran well on return to action in a Ballinrobe handicap hurdle earlier this month finishing third of 16 beaten 2¼L. One of the more likely types.

Form: 0/08537-

Ciankyle¹⁷⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 8-8| J: D E Sheehy⁽⁵⁾| T: P Cluskey| OR: 45| D

33/1

Front-runner who is an 18-race maiden on the Flat, 10 of those defeats coming on turf. 101-rated handicap hurdler, is likely to set the fractions here and may hang on for a place.

Form: 4709/80-

Mills On Tour¹⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 8-6| J: Andrew Slattery⁽⁷⁾| T: N Meade| OR: 45

25/1

Well held in seven career starts to date including on return to action last month at Navan and a couple of heavy defeats during last summers campaign on turf. Hard to see her making any significant impact.

Form: 04000-8

Forecasts

Mastermind (7/2), Union Gap (5/1), Amadeus (6/1), Conron (13/2), Ringo Kid (7/1), Molly Kaye (7/1), Black Label (14/1), Sleepy Head (16/1), Mills On Tour (25/1), Courtin Bb (25/1), Ciankyle (33/1), Ineffable (33/1), Elusive Exclusive (33/1), Cassells Rock (50/1)

The Charles O'Brien 124-rated handicap hurdler MASTERMIND can land the closing race of the meeting and can get off the mark at the 10th time of asking on the Flat for connections. The five-year-old is likely to find stiff opposition from the Champion hurdle winning yard of Gavin Cromwell with Amadeus, the Jessica Harrington-trained Conron and the front running Ciankyle.