14:35 Limerick

Friday 29 December 2023

All12:2012:5513:3014:0514:3515:1015:42

Connolly's RED MILLS Irish EBF Auction Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 14:36 | Winning time: 5m 20.20s

Iceberg Theory⁴²

Age: 4| Weight: 11-12| J: Sean Flanagan| T: P Nolan

2/1

Lightly-raced maiden under NH rules. 5/2, creditable second of 12 in novice hurdle at Wexford (20f, heavy) 42 days ago. The one to beat.

Form: 30-32

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Metalor³⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: R Deegan| T: L P Cusack

8/1

Twice-raced maiden. 100/1, second of 7 in novice hurdle at Fairyhouse (23.5f, heavy) 35 days ago, running on. Needs to improve.

Form: 1-02

Now Is The Hour⁹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Conor Stone-Walsh⁽⁵⁾| T: G P Cromwell

9/4

Twice-raced maiden. 25/1, ninth of 18 in novice hurdle at Listowel (20f, soft) 98 days ago. Stable in good form.

Form: 12-89

Western Express⁵⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Ricky Doyle| T: R O'Leary

250/1

Twice-raced maiden under NH rules. Last of 9 in novice hurdle at Thurles (23f, soft, 250/1) on hurdles bow 57 days ago.

Form: P9

La Vega Moon^p1⁵⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: J S McGarvey| T: J J Hanlon

25/1

€10,500 3-y-o, Pether's Moon gelding. Half-brother to modest hurdler Vereina. Dam (c112/h98), 3m chase winner, half-sister to useful chaser (stayed 21f) Nadiya de La Vega. Dual winning pointer, pulled up last time (Nov 5). Wears cheekpieces.

Form: 3/U-11P

Magic Sadler²²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: E Walsh| T: Ciaran Murphy

7/2

Twice-raced maiden. Fourth of 17 in novice hurdle (125/1) at Clonmel (19.1f, heavy) 22 days ago. Should be on the premises again.

Form: 7214-44

Diduhearabourichie

Age: 6| Weight: 11-8| J: Daniel King⁽³⁾| T: J M Burke

200/1

€2,200 3-y-o, Ruler of The World gelding. Half-brother to numerous winners, including modest 2¼m hurdle winner Couloir Extreme. Dam maiden on Flat.

Form:

Kilbride Hill¹²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-8| J: Liam Quinlan⁽⁵⁾| T: J P Ryan

200/1

Twice-raced maiden. Last of 7 in novice hurdle at Navan (16f, heavy, 150/1) 12 days ago, not knocked about.

Form: F-7

On Lovers Walk^t1²²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-8| J: Shane O'Callaghan⁽⁵⁾| T: G Kelleher

7/1

Twice-raced maiden. Pulled up in novice hurdle at Clonmel (19.1f, heavy, 20/1) 22 days ago. Dual winning pointer and debut under Rules was encouraging, so too soon to write him off.

Form: 411-32P

Thegraveyardbookie⁶²

Age: 4| Weight: 11-8| J: C P McNamara| T: E McNamara

14/1

Thrice-raced maiden. 25/1, fourth of 9 in bumper at Galway (16.4f, heavy) 62 days ago. Makes hurdles debut. One to consider.

Form: 364

Non-Runners

Mount Frisco³

Weight: 11-10| Age: 4

T: J P Ryan J: Philip Donovan

Forecasts

Iceberg Theory (2/1), Now Is The Hour (9/4), Magic Sadler (7/2), On Lovers Walk (7/1), Metalor (8/1), Mount Frisco (10/1), Thegraveyardbookie (14/1), La Vega Moon (25/1), Kilbride Hill (200/1), Diduhearabourichie (200/1), Western Express (250/1)

ICEBERG THEORY ran well when runner-up at Wexford last time and, in this slightly lesser race, a performance of similar merit would be enough for him to go in again. On Lovers Walk is a big threat if he can put a poor run behind him and Thegraveyardbookie could feature on hurdling bow.