15:10 Punchestown

Sunday 19 February 2023

All13:1013:4014:1014:4015:1015:4516:2016:55

John Ross Memorial Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 15:12 | Winning time: 5m 20.4s

Abbeydale^t²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Jordan Gainford| T: G Elliott

10/1

Promising individual. Fourth of 10 in novice hurdle (11/1) at this course (20.3f, heavy) 20 days ago. Remains open to improvement.

Form: 024

Ambitious Approach¹⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: Mike O'Connor⁽⁵⁾| T: S Aherne

150/1

Twice-raced maiden over hurdles. Fairly useful winner at 10f on flat, off 26 months prior to return. 150/1, eighth of 15 in novice hurdle at Thurles (15.6f, good to soft) 10 days ago. Up in trip. Will be of more interest in handicaps.

Form: 08

Any Luck Colm⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Shane O'Callaghan⁽⁷⁾| T: C A McBratney

250/1

Twice-raced maiden. 200/1 and cheekpieces on for 1st time, fourteenth of 16 in novice hurdle at Navan (16f, good to soft) 7 days ago. Back up in trip. Hard to fancy.

Form: 7459-P0

Anyway

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr E T Mellerick⁽⁷⁾| T: D Budds

200/1

€20,000 3-y-o, Jukebox Jury gelding. Dam 1m winner in Czech Republic/Germany. Little appeal on paper.

Form:

Buachaillbocht²⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: L P Dempsey| T: T M Walsh

200/1

Twice-raced maiden. Tenth of 11 in novice hurdle at Fairyhouse (19.5f, heavy, 22/1) 25 days ago, not unduly punished. Will have more chance in handicaps.

Form: 50

Crafty Rascal²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Sean O'Keeffe| T: E Cawley

300/1

Tailed off in 3 maiden hurdles.

Form: 000

Dun Ar Aill²⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Darragh O'Keeffe| T: P O'Flynn

300/1

Pulled up only start in points. Always behind in pair of maiden hurdles. Makes no appeal.

Form: P00

Foxy Rock

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: J S McGarvey| T: M F Morris

33/1

€52,000 3-y-o, Mahler gelding. Half-brother to 4 winners, including fairly useful hurdler/useful chaser Foxy Jacks, stays 25f, and fairly useful hurdler Benny's Oscar. Yard in good form and this newcomer is respected.

Form:

Hollow Sound⁵²

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: Ricky Doyle| T: L Comer| OR: 119

13/2

Fairly useful hurdler. Remains a maiden after 8 hurdle runs. 50/1, creditable fifth of 12 in handicap hurdle at Leopardstown (20f, soft) 52 days ago. More exposed than most here but holds solid place claims.

Form: 0426P-5

Jeepydoff Meel²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Sam Ewing| T: G Elliott

11/2

Promising individual. 6/1, improved again when third of 10 in novice hurdle at this course (20.3f, heavy) 20 days ago. Likely to continue progressing.

Form: 533

Leading Flame^p1¹¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: J B Foley| T: M J Smith

250/1

Lightly-raced maiden under NH rules. Shaped as if amiss when pulled up in novice hurdle at Fairyhouse (16f, good to soft, 125/1) 11 days ago. Cheekpieces on for 1st time.

Form: 880P

Micheal's Magic⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: C P McNamara| T: Liam G O'brien

300/1

Once-raced maiden. 150/1, shaped as if needing run when fourteenth of 23 in novice hurdle at Naas (19f, good to soft) on NH debut 8 days ago. Significant step forward required.

Form: 0

One Big Bang¹⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Sean Flanagan| T: Paul Tobin

18/1

Successful on completed start in points and finished third of 7 in bumper at Limerick (16f, soft) on NH debut 19 days ago. Makes hurdles debut. Up in trip. Not completely discounted.

Form: FC-13

Ounce Of Gold¹⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: J J Slevin| T: P A Fahy

200/1

Thrice-raced maiden under NH rules. 250/1, fell in novice hurdle at Thurles (22.8f, good to soft) 10 days ago. Hard to fancy.

Form: 9-80F

Quirke's Gate⁴²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: M J M O'Sullivan⁽⁵⁾| T: B Connell

9/4

Promising individual. Second of 25 in novice hurdle at Naas (15.9f, heavy, 6/1) 42 days ago. Should have more to offer and promises to be suited by this longer trip.

Form: 66-2

Sea Road Fill^t1⁵²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: T Ryan⁽⁵⁾| T: E J O'Grady

50/1

Once-raced maiden. Showed a bit when seventh of 9 in novice hurdle at Limerick (19f, heavy, 12/1) on NH debut 52 days ago but significant progress to required to go closer here. Tongue strap on for 1st time.

Form: UF7

Senior Chief⁹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: H De Bromhead| BF

5/4

Promising sort. Evens, shaped well when second of 16 in novice hurdle at Clonmel (16.3f, heavy) on hurdles bow 94 days ago, finishing with running left. Up in trip. Open to progress.

Form: 312-2

Take A March^h1

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Phillip Enright| T: E Cawley

250/1

Masterofthehorse gelding. Dam unraced. Wears hood. Yard wouldn't be associated with debut winners.

Form:

The Vegas Raider^t¹⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Keith Donoghue| T: K A Heffernan

100/1

Fairly useful on Flat for Eoin Doyle but ran below that level when ninth of 15 in novice hurdle at Thurles (15.6f, good to soft) on NH debut 10 days ago.

Form: 9

Windgap Warrior^p1³⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: E Walsh⁽⁵⁾| T: C Collins

250/1

Twice-raced maiden. Twenty first of 22 in novice hurdle (250/1) at this course (16f, heavy) 35 days ago. Back up in trip. Cheekpieces on for 1st time. Shown more temperamnent ability to date and is impossible to fancy.

Form: 00

Jollie Cosmos⁵²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: P J O'Hanlon⁽⁵⁾| T: P J Rothwell

250/1

Thrice-raced maiden under NH rules. Eighth of 12 in novice hurdle at Leopardstown (20f, soft, 300/1) 52 days ago. Looks limited.

Form: 4-3668

Pirate Bonnie⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Aidan Kelly⁽⁷⁾| T: J P Fahey

100/1

Well held both completed starts over hurdles and unseated on her last 2 outings. Can't be fancied.

Form: 00UU

Non-Runners

Monza Man¹⁰

Weight: 11-12| Age: 7

T: T Doyle J: Reserve 1

Zefiro Dodville¹²⁷

Weight: 11-12| Age: 5

T: G Elliott J: Reserve 2

Forecasts

Senior Chief (5/4), Quirke's Gate (9/4), Jeepydoff Meel (11/2), Hollow Sound (13/2), Zefiro Dodville (8/1), Abbeydale (10/1), One Big Bang (18/1), Foxy Rock (33/1), Sea Road Fill (50/1), Pirate Bonnie (100/1), The Vegas Raider (100/1), Ambitious Approach (150/1), Monza Man (150/1), Anyway (200/1), Ounce Of Gold (200/1), Buachaillbocht (200/1), Jollie Cosmos (250/1), Windgap Warrior (250/1), Any Luck Colm (250/1), Leading Flame (250/1), Take A March (250/1), Micheal's Magic (300/1), Dun Ar Aill (300/1), Crafty Rascal (300/1)

SENIOR CHIEF shaped with plenty of promise when runner-up at Clonmel on hurdles bow in November and should prove suited by this step up in trip, though the likes of Jeepydoff Meel, Quirke's Gate, and Abbeydale all bring good form to the table and are similarly open to improvement.