13:40 Navan

Tuesday 3 March 2020

All13:4014:1014:4015:1015:4016:1016:40

Shamrock Festival Racing 14th March Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 13:40 | Winning time: 4m 29.20s

Bear Claws^t⁶⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: C P McNamara⁽⁵⁾| T: E McNamara| C

25/1

Soft ground winner here on the Flat over 1m2f; tailed off when pulled up on hurdling debut at Limerick in December; difficult to assess based on that run and best watched.

Form: P

But I Like It^t⁴³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: Simon Torrens⁽⁷⁾| T: F Birrane

50/1

Poor but generally consistent on the Flat; is closely related to some decent winners over hurdles so difficult to dismiss readily.

Form:

Djasek¹⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: Phillip Enright| T: A J Martin

14/1

Gelding by Rip Van Winkle out of an Invincible Spirit mare; closely related to six-race maiden over jumps; showed some ability on hurdles debut at Gowran Park earlier this month and quick reappearance is a positive.

Form: 7

Dungans Well

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: Donagh Meyler| T: E Doyle

14/1

Cost 30,000 euros as a three-year-old; related to plenty of decent hurdling and chasing types; strong market moves should be noted.

Form:

Galet D'Oudairies³⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: D A Jacob| T: G Elliott

4/6

Gelding by Racinger out of a French bred mare; couple of decent efforts on the Flat in France last year; not disgraced on hurdles debut at Fairyhouse in January; entitled to improve and likely to be popular in the betting market.

Form: 125

Leading Line⁴⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: A W Short⁽³⁾| T: P J Rothwell

100/1

Cost 10,000 euros as a two-year-old; last of nine on only appearance on the racecourse in a bumper at Gowran Park in January; hard to get excited about his hurdles debut on that form.

Form: 9

Metal Man¹⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: D N Russell| T: G Elliott

6/1

Modest form at up to 1m6f in four starts on Flat for Mick Halford.; not disgraced in four starts so far over hurdles but needs to step it up sooner rather than later.

Form: U058

New Ross

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: J J Slevin| T: J P O'Brien

5/1

Cost 18,000 euros as a three-year-old; related to plenty of useful National Hunt types including the consistent The Fresh Prince; it will be interesting what the market thinks on his debut.

Form:

Annie Pender^h¹⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: D F O'Regan| T: J Queally

6/1

Not disgraced in a couple of initial starts over hurdles at Punchestown and finished third of 17 beaten over 14L in a Naas maiden over two miles on penultimate start; needs to bounce back from below par run last time to get involved.

Form: 53P

Dragon's Pass⁶⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: B Browne⁽⁵⁾| T: Mrs D Foster| OR: 95

16/1

Best effort over hurdles was when 18¾L seventh of 16 in a juvenile maiden at Gowran Park on debut; has failed to build on that in two runs since and something to prove at present.

Form: 700

Forecasts

Galet D'Oudairies (4/6), New Ross (5/1), Metal Man (6/1), Annie Pender (6/1), Djasek (14/1), Dungans Well (14/1), Dragon's Pass (16/1), Bear Claws (25/1), But I Like It (50/1), Leading Line (100/1)

GALET D'OUDAIRIES is the selection based on his gentle introduction to hurdles at Fairyhouse in January when he finished a respectable fifth of 15: If able to improve on that then he holds every chance in a contest devoid of many obvious winners. Any more for debutante New Ross could be worth noting while Metal Man has experience on his side and is another worth consideration.