15:20 Fairyhouse

Saturday 11 January 2020

All12:2513:0013:3514:1014:4515:2015:50

Irish Stallion Farms EBF Rated Novice Chase

Off time: 15:20 | Winning time: 6m 19.0s

Brex Drago¹³

Age: 8| Weight: 11-13| J: C P McNamara⁽⁵⁾| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 123

10/1

Recorded a hat-trick of wins over hurdles in 2018; has yet to score in six attempts over fences this season though; best effort did come last time out at Leopardstown and may slowly be getting the hang of things.

Form: 5FU763

Diamond Turf^t²⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 11-11| J: Jack Kennedy| T: G Elliott

8/1

No great shakes over hurdles but has put in two respectable efforts over fences of late; he needs to improve his jumping somewhat but is certainly respected from powerful stable.

Form: 243P-33

Grand Partner⁶

Age: 12| Weight: 11-9| J: Danny Mullins| T: T Mullins| OR: 119| C

33/1

Relatively lightly raced over fences for his age; showed decent form including in handicaps in 2018 but latest three starts have been well below that level and is possibly one to be wary of these days despite having great chance on best of his form.

Form: 343-4P6

Isle Of Destiny^p,t¹⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: Keith Donoghue| T: G Elliott| OR: 118

10/1

Has been slowly improving over fences of late culminating in a decent win at Down Royal on Boxing Day; has scope for more improvement and looks one of the more leading contenders here.

Form: 4235U1

At The Acorn^t¹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-6| J: Phillip Enright| T: A J Martin| OR: 116

3/1

Fairly useful over hurdles; not matched that form over fences as yet, but he's not been knocked about either; better performance last time out at Leopardstown and hard to totally rule out.

Form: 32-6846

Wrong Direction⁴¹

Age: 10| Weight: 11-6| J: B J Foley⁽⁵⁾| T: S Spillane| OR: 116

9/2

Has just completed one time from three racecourse appearances; pulled up last time out here but if he can put that run behind him then he has chances based on his Cork second in November.

Form: 1F-12P

Glorious Galway^t²⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 11-4| J: Mr J C Barry⁽⁵⁾| T: D McNamara| OR: 114

11/2

Was showing plenty of ability when runner up at Cork and Tipperary in October/November last year but needs to bounce back from his latest two poor runs including being beaten by 50 lengths last time out at Navan.

Form: 83-2245

Bentham²⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: C D Maxwell| T: G P Cromwell

25/1

Fair bumper performer but has struggled making the transition to jumping evidenced by being unplaced in three hurdles efforts and completely tailed off on only chase appearance last time out at Navan; others preferred.

Form: 116447

The Long Mile²⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: Mark Walsh| T: J P Dempsey| OR: 112

10/3

Won last time out at Naas despite being let down by some very iffy jumping; he makes up for his poor jumping by having a great engine and if improving his jumping, he holds every chance in this company.

Form: 473701

Forecasts

At The Acorn (3/1), The Long Mile (10/3), Wrong Direction (9/2), Glorious Galway (11/2), Diamond Turf (8/1), Isle Of Destiny (10/1), Brex Drago (10/1), Bentham (25/1), Grand Partner (33/1)

ISLE OF DESTINY gets the nod here based on her win at Down Royal late last month. The mare took a while to get the hang of things over fences but with that confidence boosting win under her belt there may be more to come. If The Long Mile was a more competent jumper then he would have been a confident selection for this contest. He won last time out despite his jumping. If Grand Partner can bounce back to the form he showed in 2018 then he would have every chance at these weights. Any prolonged market support may suggest connections think he is back to his old self despite poor recent performances.