12:17 Down Royal

Friday 10 November 2023

All12:1712:5213:2714:0214:3715:1215:47

Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 12:19 | Winning time: 5m 49.90s

Annaghbeg²⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr S Connor⁽⁷⁾| T: S R B Crawford

8/1

Conduit gelding. Dam lightly raced and no show over hurdles. Multiple point winner, third last time (Oct 14).

Form: PF111-3

Image of Stars that are filled with the colour gold

Better Days Ahead^t1²⁴⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Jack Kennedy| T: G Elliott

8/15

Successful sole outing in points. Useful winner in bumpers. 23½ lengths sixteenth of 21 to A Dream To Share in Champion Bumper (10/1) at Cheltenham (16.4f, soft). Makes hurdles debut. Leading contender.

Form: 1/210-

Ebony Jade⁴³

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Keith Donoghue| T: J P Dempsey

100/1

7/1, fourth of 6 in bumper at Clonmel (16.8f, heavy) on NH debut 43 days ago. Makes hurdles debut.

Form: 4

Google Belfast²⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: A P Heskin| T: C A McBratney

250/1

Conduit gelding. Dam unraced sister to fairly useful hurdler/smart chaser (stayed 3¼m) Thomas Patrick. Last of 7 completed start in points (Oct 14).

Form: FP-7

Marronstown³⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: B W Harvey⁽³⁾| T: D M Christie| OR: 109

18/1

Lightly-raced maiden. 13/2, below form third of 7 in novice hurdle at Downpatrick (21.5f, soft) 35 days ago.

Form: P3U75-3

Nas Na Riogh²³⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: H De Bromhead

10/3

€14,000 3-y-o, Walk In The Park gelding. Dam unraced half-sister to useful hurdler/chaser (stayed 2¾m) Ballyholland. Off mark in points at second attempt (Mar 25).

Form: F1-

Paidin Beag^b1,h1¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Jamie Hayes⁽⁷⁾| T: R K Watson

250/1

Barely A Moment gelding. Dam modest maiden over hurdles (stayed 2½m). Wears hood. Maiden pointer, pulled up last time (Oct 28).

Form: 448-2UP

Rust To Riches^t¹⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Philip Byrnes⁽⁵⁾| T: N McCluskey

250/1

Fifth of 8 in handicap chase at Sedgefield (26.9f, soft, 10/1) 19 days ago. Switches from chase to hurdles.

Form: P5P755

Sekakarma¹⁷⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Donagh Meyler| T: W M Roper

150/1

Twice-raced maiden. Sixth of 15 in novice hurdle at Killarney (20f, good, 250/1) 179 days ago.

Form: 0-6

The Bay Horse¹⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: Sam Ewing| T: G Elliott

125/1

Pulled up in novice hurdle at Limerick (16f, heavy, 33/1) on NH debut 19 days ago, tailed off when pulled up before 4 out. Significantly up in trip.

Form: P

The Busy Fool²²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: J P O'Sullivan⁽³⁾| T: P J Rothwell

8/1

Won 14-runner bumper at Thurles (15.9f, soft, 28/1) on NH debut 22 days ago. Makes hurdles debut. Interesting contender.

Form: 1

Zefiro Dodville³⁹

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

12/1

Fifth of 9 in bumper (5/6) at Fairyhouse (16f, soft) on NH debut 39 days ago. Makes hurdles debut.

Form: 1-5

Jerk¹⁹⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-11| J: Patrick M O'Brien⁽⁷⁾| T: W Durkan

150/1

100/1, seventeenth of 22 in bumper at Punchestown (16.4f, good to soft) on NH debut. Off 6 months. Makes hurdles debut.

Form: 0-

No Turn Unstoned³⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-11| J: J S McGarvey| T: G Elliott

150/1

Twice-raced maiden under NH rules. 12/1, seventh of 9 in novice hurdle at Fairyhouse (20.5f, soft) on hurdles bow 39 days ago.

Form: 9-7

Meoulflower⁴¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: Thomas Reilly⁽⁷⁾| T: P Cluskey

300/1

Little show in maidens/handicap on Flat. 250/1, fell in novice hurdle at Gowran (20.2f, heavy) on NH debut 41 days ago.

Form: F

Forecasts

Better Days Ahead (8/15), Nas Na Riogh (10/3), The Busy Fool (8/1), Annaghbeg (8/1), Zefiro Dodville (12/1), Marronstown (18/1), Ebony Jade (100/1), The Bay Horse (125/1), Sekakarma (150/1), Jerk (150/1), No Turn Unstoned (150/1), Rust To Riches (250/1), Paidin Beag (250/1), Google Belfast (250/1), Meoulflower (300/1)

BETTER DAYS AHEAD didn't do himself justice in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham but this point winner remains a good hurdling prospect. The Busy Fool looked above average when making a winning debut in a Thurles bumper 3 weeks ago so must be respected, while point-winner Nas Na Riogh is worth a look in the betting.