19:20 Roscommon

Monday 20 May 2024

All17:2017:5018:2018:5019:2019:5020:20

Abbey Hotel Roscommon Handicap

Off time: 19:20 | Winning time: 2m 15.20s

(3)

Sea Eagle¹⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 10-0| J: J Cleary⁽⁷⁾| T: Gerard O'Leary| OR: 80| BF

6/1

9/2, bit below form fifth of 12 in handicap at Cork (8f, good) 10 days ago. Up in trip. Others more persuasive.

Form: 1/885-45

(6)

True Statesman^b⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 9-9| J: C J MacRedmond⁽⁵⁾| T: A McGuinness| OR: 75

50/1

Temperamental sort. 20/1, first run since leaving Charlie Johnston when fourteenth of 15 in handicap at this course (7.7f, good to soft) 7 days ago. Significantly back up in trip. Blinkers back on.

Form: 33-0440

(4)

Belles Feuilles¹¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-8| J: Seamie Heffernan| T: G Keane| OR: 74| D

40/1

66/1, seventh of 8 in handicap at Gowran (8f, heavy) 11 days ago. Back up in trip. First run for yard after leaving Tony Martin. Not easy to make a case for.

Form: 311-007

(2)

Theophilos⁴⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 9-7| J: Ben Coen| T: J P Murtagh| OR: 73

7/2

17/2, ninth of 14 in handicap at Dundalk (10.7f) on reappearance 45 days ago. Trainer going well. Should be sharper now.

Form: 12460-9

(7)

Milteye^t⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 9-6| J: Billy Lee| T: E J O'Grady| OR: 72

22/1

Tongue strap on for 1st time, eighth of 11 in handicap (14/1) at this course (12.2f, good to soft) on reappearance 7 days ago. Return to shorter may help and Billy Lee does the steering.

Form: 31048-8

(5)

Spy¹⁵⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 9-6| J: Sean Davis| T: C Byrnes| OR: 72

20/1

Unreliable sort. Tenth of 14 in handicap (7/1) at Dundalk (12f), unable to sustain effort. Off 157 days.

Form: 540390-

(1)

Al Mudhaffar^p1⁷³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: Dylan Browne McMonagle| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 80

11/10

Twice-raced winner. Won 13-runner maiden at Dundalk (8f, 1/3) 73 days ago, driven out. Up in trip. Cheekpieces on 1st time. Makes handicap debut. Open to progress.

Form: 21

(11)

Cleopatra's Needle^b³

Age: 6| Weight: 8-7| J: Chris Hayes| T: H Rogers| OR: 59| D

4/1

1 win from 2 runs this year. Winner at Navan in May. Good second of 10 in handicap at Leopardstown (10f, good, 10/1) 3 days ago, doing too much too soon. Player.

Form: 8900-12

Non-Runners

(10)

Emeric⁴⁵

Weight: 9-5| Age: 7

T: P W Flynn J: Colin Keane

(9)

Turbulence⁴³

Weight: 9-5| Age: 7

T: R O'Sullivan J: Shane Foley

(8)

Magic Charm²⁴

Weight: 8-9| Age: 8

T: M Hassett J: Wayne Hassett

Forecasts

Al Mudhaffar (11/10), Theophilos (7/2), Cleopatra's Needle (4/1), Sea Eagle (6/1), Emeric (15/2), Magic Charm (8/1), Turbulence (10/1), Spy (20/1), Milteye (22/1), Belles Feuilles (40/1), True Statesman (50/1)

Sole 3-y-o AL MUDHAFFAR surely has more to offer for his leading stable after only 2 starts and can prove too strong for his older rivals. Cleopatra's Needle has returned at the top of her game and will be a threat if this doesn't come too soon after Leopardstown on Friday. Paul Flynn's Emeric completes the shortlist.