13:50 Down Royal

Tuesday 17 March 2020

All13:5014:2515:0015:3516:1016:4517:20

Bluegrass Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 13:50 | Winning time: 4m 32.50s

Bal De Rio¹³

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: D G Hogan| T: D Hogan| OR: 116

4/1

Showed ability both on the Flat and over hurdles when trained by Brian Ellison. Ten race maiden over hurdles but has proceeded to hit the frame on eight of those starts; surely just a matter of time before winning his maiden.

Form: 2/22-242

Whirling Dervish¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Danny Mullins| T: G P Cromwell

11/1

100-rated at best on the Flat but hasn't appeared to take to hurdling in three runs; early days yet but watching brief safest.

Form: 099

Thimbleweed²⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: J S McGarvey| T: N C Kelly

100/1

Fair performer on the Flat; last seen finishing 9/9 at Dundalk on the AW in February; hard to assess on hurdles debut.

Form:

Captain Mc³⁴⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Sean Flanagan| T: N Meade

10/3

Cost 4,000 euros as a foal; related to hurdle and chase winners; difficult to know what to make of his sole point-to-point run last April when not showing too much; market will be best guide to chances.

Form: 4-

Double Jemmy^t³⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: D J Mullins| T: A J Martin

12/1

Seems to be slowly getting the hang of things with latest two efforts being of a decent standard; best effort came when third on penultimate start at Naas and with scope for progression is one for the shortlist.

Form: 6

Ilikehim¹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: J B Kane⁽⁵⁾| T: W Durkan

50/1

Hurdles appearances split by three years; no real ability on either run and has been generally disappointing on the Flat in between; hard to make a strong case for.

Form: 8/0

Mezyan¹⁶⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: N P Madden| T: J J Hanlon

100/1

Good 4L third in a bumper over an extended 2m at Clonmel (good) in September before being never a factor on hurdles debut at Gowran Park the following month; interesting to see how he will fare after long absence.

Form: 5630

Mig Des Taillons^h,t¹⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: M A Enright| T: R A Curran

33/1

Showed promise on debut here in a bumper in late 2019 but failed to follow up including in two spins over hurdles; should be able to progress and experience will hold him in good stead here.

Form: F2603

Now Where Or When^t³⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: J J Slevin| T: S R B Crawford

3/1

Cheaply bought with little in the way of a decent pedigree; tongue-tied on debut at Navan in February and belied odds of 66/1 to finish 3rd behind the improving Francin; excellent chance if progressing.

Form: 3

Stansfield¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Brian Hayes| T: Paul Traynor

80/1

Well beaten on all racecourse appearances including three times over hurdles; step back in trip may help but still hard to make a strong case for on all known form.

Form: 368796

The Miser⁸²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Mr N Gault⁽⁷⁾| T: W J Bryson

150/1

Failed to beat a single horse in three bumper appearances and was always in rear and tailed off on only hurdles run here on Boxing Day; would be a surprise if he is good enough.

Form: 7-980

Wingin A Prayer³⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: R M Power| T: Mrs J Harrington

10/3

Has made some encouraging starts over hurdles but often let down by his jumping (fell at Navan in December); slightly below par last time but no surprise if he runs a big race.

Form: 133F37

Djasek¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Donagh Meyler| T: A J Martin

33/1

Gelding by Rip Van Winkle out of an Invincible Spirit mare; has shown enough ability in his maiden hurdle outings to suggest he is capable of winning races; one to note.

Form: 76

Second Symphony¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: Dylan Johnston⁽⁷⁾| T: C A McBratney

100/1

Daughter of Mahler out of a Gold Well mare; was doing her best work in the closing stages of her latest run at Navan earlier this month suggesting the penny may have finally dropped; one to look out for in the betting ring.

Form: P-609

Smiling Emily¹⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 10-11| J: D F O'Regan| T: G A Kingston

200/1

Desperately disappointing on first hurdles outing since 2017 at Navan recently and given her poor record on the Flat in between, the easy call is to look elsewhere.

Form: 0/0

Timber Tang Girl³⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: Mr N McParlan⁽⁵⁾| T: S McParlan

100/1

Improved with every outing in point-to-points, winning on her latest appearance in October; did not enjoy herself on hurdles debut at Navan in February; should be more clued up here and one to consider.

Form: 4310

Deealli³¹

Age: 4| Weight: 10-9| J: C D Timmons⁽³⁾| T: Thomas Coyle

10/1

Down the field on debut in a Naas 2m bumper in January but made a pleasing debut over hurdles when finishing second at Gowran Park last month (no chance with easy winner); should improve and one to consider.

Form: 72

Mistertommyshelby

Age: 4| Weight: 10-9| J: Gary Noonan| T: P Griffin

100/1

Not particularly well bred but is related to some minor hurdle and point-to-point winners; very difficult to assess on debut and market should reveal connection's confidence.

Form:

Union Park²⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 10-9| J: Ricky Doyle⁽³⁾| T: P J Rothwell

100/1

Walk In The Park gelding out of a Poliglote mare; nibbled at in the market on debut at Punchestown in February before finishing well down the field; entitled to improve but may need more time to develop.

Form: 8

Basrah Breeze⁴⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 10-2| J: C D Maxwell| T: E D Delany

80/1

11-race maiden on the Flat; showed some ability when younger but form tailed off of late; may well take to hurdling but probably best watched on debut.

Form:

Non-Runners

Myles Milan²

Weight: 10-9| Age: 4

T: D Hogan J: Reserve 1

Leading Line¹⁴

Weight: 10-9| Age: 4

T: P J Rothwell J: Reserve 2

Ballela Storm³⁴⁶

Weight: 10-11| Age: 6

T: J G Cosgrave J: Reserve 3

Forecasts

Now Where Or When (3/1), Wingin A Prayer (10/3), Captain Mc (10/3), Bal De Rio (4/1), Deealli (10/1), Whirling Dervish (11/1), Double Jemmy (12/1), Myles Milan (12/1), Ballela Storm (12/1), Djasek (33/1), Mig Des Taillons (33/1), Leading Line (33/1), Ilikehim (50/1), Stansfield (80/1), Basrah Breeze (80/1), Timber Tang Girl (100/1), Second Symphony (100/1), Thimbleweed (100/1), Mistertommyshelby (100/1), Union Park (100/1), Mezyan (100/1), The Miser (150/1), Smiling Emily (200/1)

The remarkable BAL DE RIO has only finished outside the places once in ten hurdles outings and is clearly the form pick in this contest. There seemed to be nothing wrong with his attitude when only going down in a bobbing finish last time at Clonmel and this looks a very decent opportunity to finally get off the mark. If Wingin A Prayer can be forgiven a below par run last time at Naas then he had been showing enough progression to suggest he should be winning a race like this very soon. Now Where Or When got close enough to future winner Francin at Naan to give encouragement that he is much better than his humble pedigree suggests.