18:15 Ballinrobe

Monday 9 August 2021

All16:4517:1517:4518:1518:4519:1519:4520:15

Connolly's RED MILLS Irish EBF Auction Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 18:16 | Winning time: 5m 29.4s

Chicago Time¹²

Age: 6| Weight: 12-0| J: Sean O'Keeffe| T: M J Tynan

10/3

Lightly-raced maiden under NH rules. Respectable fourth of 19 in maiden hurdle (33/1) at Galway (21f, good to soft) 12 days ago.

Form: 24-5424

Drifting Back^p,t¹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 12-0| J: C P McNamara| T: E McNamara| OR: 99| CD

13/2

Fair hurdler. C&D winner. One win from 2 runs last season. Cheekpieces on for 1st time, creditable ninth of 15 in handicap hurdle at Limerick (20f, good, 17/2) 18 days ago.

Form: 7/D0-099

Samos Island²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: J J Burke| T: W J Burke

11/1

16/1 and cheekpieces on for 1st time, bit below form fourth of 8 in bumper at Kilbeggan (16f, good to soft) 2 days ago. Switches from bumpers to hurdles.

Form: 367-74

Synone¹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: S Fitzgerald⁽⁷⁾| T: J P Ryan

20/1

Lightly-raced maiden under NH rules. 12/1, eleventh of 15 in maiden hurdle at Limerick (20f, good) 18 days ago.

Form: 0-U640

Mahler Mission⁵⁴⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: Thomas Reilly⁽⁷⁾| T: J C McConnell

20/1

Runner-up on point debut in February 2020. Off since ahead of this switch to hurdles. Betting perhaps the best guide to expectations.

Form: 2/

Opie Houdini¹⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: Gavin Brouder⁽⁷⁾| T: D E Fitzgerald| OR: 85

18/1

Modest hurdler. 50/1, creditable fifth of 15 in maiden at Limerick (20f, good) 18 days ago. More needed.

Form: 08P77-5

Cream Sparkles¹²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-3| J: D F O'Regan| T: D M Christie

15/8

Placed 3 times in bumpers. Good second attempt over hurdles when third of 19 in maiden at Galway (21f, good to soft) 12 days ago. A repeat of that form might be good enough.

Form: 363353

Cute Cherry⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-3| J: B J Cooper| T: Mrs D Foster

7/1

Promising sort. 25/1, good sixth of 16 in maiden hurdle at Cork (16f, soft) 7 days ago, finishing with running left. Significantly up in trip. Open to progress.

Form: 928-786

Will You Win^t⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: B Browne⁽³⁾| T: O McKiernan| OR: 95

9/1

Modest hurdler. Remains a maiden after 9 hurdle runs. 16/1, below form eighth of 16 in novice hurdle at Cork (16f, soft) 7 days ago. Significantly back up in trip.

Form: 2255-48

Non-Runners

Valley Breeze⁷²⁰

Weight: 11-12| Age: 7

T: W P Mullins J: Mr A McMahon

The Fairyhill Man¹¹⁸

Weight: 11-10| Age: 6

T: J P Ryan J: Philip Donovan

Helisone

Weight: 11-3| Age: 4

T: H De Bromhead J: Darragh O'Keeffe

Forecasts

Cream Sparkles (15/8), Chicago Time (10/3), Helisone (4/1), Valley Breeze (6/1), Drifting Back (13/2), Cute Cherry (7/1), Will You Win (9/1), Samos Island (11/1), Opie Houdini (18/1), Mahler Mission (20/1), Synone (20/1), The Fairyhill Man (50/1)

CREAM SPARKLES gets the nod after an encouraging run at the Galway Festival. There's definitely a bigger performance in Cute Cherry so she's respected under Brian Cooper, while Valley Breeze and Helisone would also enter the reckoning if the betting speaks in their favour.