18:15 Cork

Friday 24 July 2020

All16:0516:4017:1517:4518:1518:4519:1519:45

Churchfield Handicap Hurdle (80-95) (Div 1)

Off time: 18:15 | Winning time: 5m 14.1s

Fu's Island⁶

Age: 10| Weight: 12-0| J: C P McNamara⁽⁵⁾| T: P Meany| OR: 93| D

12/1

Had been in solid and consistent form since winning at Tramore over a similar trip last August but lost his way towards the end of the year; probably needed reappearance run recently back at Tramore and starting to look well handicapped.

Form: 6340P-9

Ringo Kid^t⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 12-0| J: Sean O'Keeffe⁽⁵⁾| T: Mrs O Byrne| OR: 93

13/2

Long standing maiden under both codes; lightly raced over hurdles and best effort did come when last seen jumping in September 2019 on handicap debut; fair effort on the Flat latest: interesting but not the most reliable.

Form: F6480/4-

Magistralis^b1⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-13| J: A W Short⁽³⁾| T: Miss E Doyle| OR: 92

16/1

Maiden, made frame over this trip at Fairyhouse on penultimate start and possibly didn't see out 3m since; pulled up last Sunday over fences; more needed to open account in first-time blinkers.

Form: 54530-P

Celine Soprano^t²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr M C O'Donovan⁽⁷⁾| T: Patrick Cronin| OR: 91| BF| D

9/2

Talented mare in bumpers, but disappointing in four starts over hurdles as she has been unable to transfer that same ability. Switch to handicaps has failed to yield any improvement the last twice and watching brief advised for now.

Form: 24050-8

Ruler Of Dubai²⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-10| J: R P Treacy⁽³⁾| T: L Young| OR: 89

9/2

Had started at long odds on all his four racecourse appearance to date and run accordingly before improved effort on handicap debut at Tipperary over this trip; up a couple of pounds but could still be a danger.

Form: 0680-3

Infuse¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 11-6| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: Colm Murphy| OR: 92

12/1

Still open to improvement over hurdles but has been beaten over 20 lengths in all her starts including on handicap debut last time out at Bellewstown; step up in trip may possibly help.

Form: 89-77

Galuppi^v⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 11-5| J: K C Sexton| T: J R Finn| OR: 84

12/1

Ran reasonably consistently over hurdles last summer; returned after long break at Tipperary at the start of the month where he fell when tiring; fair effort recently at Tramore and closely matched with rival Deauville Society on that running.

Form: 4547-F5

Golden Symphony²²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: J M Moore| T: A Donoghue| OR: 84

10/1

Gradual improvement last season ending up with two decent runs at Thurles and Naas last winter; no place finishes after seven starts over hurdles is a concern and could do with a favour from the handicapper.

Form: 8U7645-

Fly De Megaudais²⁹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-3| J: M M McDonagh⁽⁷⁾| T: M J McDonagh| OR: 82

28/1

Landed a handicap hurdle over an extended 2m1f at Ballinrobe in April 2019 getting off the mark at the 10th time of asking off a 2lb lower mark; failed to get competitive subsequently and this looks tough coming back after long absence.

Form: 004305-

Lilly Geal²³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: Sean Flanagan| T: Yvonne Latta| OR: 81

6/1

Best effort cam at Wexford over this trip and likely underfoot conditions last September; disappointed subsequently since but should be fitter for recent reappearance run at Tipperary.

Form: 7/6027-6

Pino Boy^p,t¹⁵³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-1| J: Liam McKenna⁽⁷⁾| T: Mrs A Mooney| OR: 80

20/1

14-race maiden hurdler, yet to claim prize money on any occasion. Failed to complete in two of his last three starts over timber and looks very vulnerable to less exposed rivals.

Form: 985P9P-

Grey Girly^h,t²⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: J J Slevin| T: S R B Crawford| OR: 86

9/1

Some promise in maidens but pulled up on handicap bow at Kilbeggan (2m4f, good; 11-1) last month; slipped saddle a mitigating factor there so may do better.

Form: 930-P

Divin Desir¹¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-1| J: Reserve 1| T: I Madden| OR: 80

28/1

Reserve 1 Generally consistent but rarely threatens to win; could be similar story once again; poor effort on reappearance run recently at Roscommon.

Form: 46548-6

Mezyan¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: Reserve 3| T: J J Hanlon| OR: 90

22/1

Reserve 3 Showed slightly improved for last time out at Bellewstown but not enough to make him a serious contender here.

Form: 6300-90

Non-Runners

Gunfire Reef¹

Weight: 11-13| Age: 10

T: Ms M Mullins J: Danny Mullins

Deauville Society⁶

Weight: 11-7| Age: 5

T: T G McCourt J: Darragh O'Keeffe

Warreedy²⁸⁷

Weight: 11-1| Age: 11

T: B McMahon J: Phillip Enright

Four Country Roads²⁶⁰

Weight: 12-2| Age: 6

T: M Hourigan J: Reserve 2

Forecasts

Gunfire Reef (4/1), Ruler Of Dubai (9/2), Celine Soprano (9/2), Lilly Geal (6/1), Ringo Kid (13/2), Deauville Society (7/1), Grey Girly (9/1), Golden Symphony (10/1), Galuppi (12/1), Fu's Island (12/1), Infuse (12/1), Four Country Roads (14/1), Warreedy (14/1), Magistralis (16/1), Pino Boy (20/1), Mezyan (22/1), Fly De Megaudais (28/1), Divin Desir (28/1)

Not the easiest race to find a winner and a slight preference goes to DEAUVILLE SOCIETY who has been quietly improving for each run ( including two runs on the Flat) culminating in a decent fourth over 2m5f recently at Tramore. Any improvement will see him go close with this drop back in trip expected to suit. Behind him that day was Galuppi who put in a useful effort on the back of falling the time before. There may be more to come. Gunfire Reef is a much better chaser but showed on his latest hurdles run he has ability and will be full of confidence following a recent win over fences.