18:54 Down Royal

Friday 5 September 2025

All16:1516:5017:2217:5418:2418:5419:24

Children's Heartbeat Trust Apprentice Handicap

Off time: 18:56 | Winning time: 2m 13.21s

(11)

Doctor Grace^p²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: Sam Coen| T: A McGuinness| OR: 70| C| D

14/1

Course winner. Latest win here in July. Respectable fourth of 9 in handicap at Tramore (12f, good to soft, 12/1) 20 days ago, ridden over 2f out and plugging on. Looks no more than averagely treated at present.

Form: 252104

(17)

Dancing Steve^v¹³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-13| J: Conor Cusack⁽²⁾| T: A McGuinness| OR: 69

16/1

Latest win at Navan in July. Last of 14 in handicap (9/1) at the Curragh (12f, good) 13 days ago, heavily eased off. Proving consistent prior to that so no surprise to see him bounce back quickly.

Form: 922160

(4)

Calzaghi¹³⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-12| J: Julian Pietropaolo⁽²⁾| T: Kevin Coleman| OR: 68

5/1

Bit below form sixth of 15 in handicap (4/1) at Tipperary (12.4f, good to soft) in April. Absent since and better showing certainly not ruled out from this low-mileage 5-y-o returned to this trip.

Form: 9513-86

(16)

Bucaneer's Spirit²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-10| J: Rory Mulligan| T: Ian Donoghue| OR: 66

12/1

Latest win at Ballinrobe in July. Below form eighth of 14 in claimer (6/1) at Dundalk (7f) 21 days ago. Significantly back up in trip.

Form: 049158

(10)

Grey Fable^t⁹⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 9-9| J: Adam Grant⁽⁴⁾| T: K Thornton| OR: 65

25/1

Below form seventh of 12 in handicap (6/1) at Chester (15.9f, good) in May, weakening over 1f out. Absent since and the betting may well prove best guide as to expectations ahead of this.

Form: 32112-7

(1)

God Knows²⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 9-8| J: Patrick McGettigan| T: P Sweeney| OR: 64| BF| C

13/2

C&D winner. 13/2, creditable fifth of 21 in handicap at the Curragh (8f, good) 20 days ago. Significantly back up in trip and she's no forlorn hope from easing mark.

Form: 499-105

(8)

Spartan Warrior^b,t³⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 9-8| J: Darragh O'Sullivan| T: R Menzies| OR: 64

20/1

16/1 and visored for 1st time, sixth of 7 in handicap at Pontefract (17.1f, good) 30 days ago. Significantly down in trip. Blinkers back on. Needs a couple of these to falter.

Form: 157-406

(2)

Areana^b¹²

Age: 6| Weight: 9-7| J: Jessica O'Gorman⁽²⁾| T: E & P Harty| OR: 63| D

7/2

Some creditable AW efforts prior to offering little in 2 maiden hurdles late last year. However, off 8 months/changed yards, bounced back to best in first-time blinkers when winning 16-runner handicap at Naas (10.5f) 12 days ago, unchallenged. Handicapper has reacted but respected nevertheless.

Form: 24367-1

(7)

Miss Nifty¹³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-4| J: Yudish Geerdharry⁽²⁾| T: S Lavery| OR: 67

25/1

Latest win at Naas in June. Twelfth of 14 in handicap at the Curragh (12f, good, 11/1) 13 days ago, beaten early in the straight. Has questions to answer now.

Form: 89-1390

(14)

Kevin The Great⁶⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: Joseph Harnett⁽²⁾| T: Mrs J Harrington| OR: 66

10/1

Lightly-raced maiden. 12/1, good fifth of 10 in handicap at Roscommon (10.3f, good to soft) 66 days ago, not ideally placed. In good hands and likely we've yet to see all he has to offer.

Form: 6465

(9)

Ribee¹⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 9-1| J: Terry Casey⁽⁴⁾| T: M Mulvany| OR: 64

12/1

9/1, fifth of 8 in handicap at Bellewstown (7.9f, good) 10 days ago, merely plugging on. However, best effort to date came over this sort of trip and he's not taken lightly having been given a chance by the assessor.

Form: 572205

(12)

Ohmali³⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 8-10| J: Nicola Burns| T: N Lupini| OR: 59

9/2

Maiden who isn't yet fully exposed and he confirmed his return to form when finishing creditable fourth of 15 in handicap (22/1) at Galway (7f, good to soft) 34 days ago, running on. Interesting connections pitch him back up markedly in trip and worth a second look from career-low mark.

Form: 9-73844

(13)

Tartaraghan¹²

Age: 4| Weight: 9-3| J: Sadhbh Tormey⁽⁴⁾| T: J C McConnell| OR: 59

12/1

Belatedly shed maiden tag at Navan (10.2f) in July. Bit below form 12 lengths seventh of 16 to Areana in handicap at Naas (10.5f, good to soft, 15/2) 12 days ago. Reserve 1.

Form: 513287

Non-Runners

(5)

Evangelic¹²⁷

Weight: 9-9| Age: 3

T: R K Watson J: Sorcha Woods

(6)

Loingseoir⁸

Weight: 9-9| Age: 9

T: M C Grassick J: Jimmy Dalton

(3)

Alto Sax¹⁴

Weight: 9-0| Age: 4

T: Peter Fahey J: Reserve 2

(15)

Ina Mina²⁰

Weight: 10-3| Age: 4

T: M Mulvany J: Reserve 3

Forecasts

Areana (7/2), Ohmali (9/2), Calzaghi (5/1), God Knows (13/2), Ina Mina (15/2), Kevin The Great (10/1), Bucaneer's Spirit (12/1), Tartaraghan (12/1), Ribee (12/1), Doctor Grace (14/1), Evangelic (14/1), Loingseoir (14/1), Dancing Steve (16/1), Alto Sax (16/1), Spartan Warrior (20/1), Grey Fable (25/1), Miss Nifty (25/1)

Plenty of these arrive with claims and it may pay to take a chance on CALZAGHI. He's been given a break following a lesser run at Tipperary in the spring and having followed a similar path when opening his account over this trip last term, he could well be primed for a big run from a reduced mark. Ribee, Loingseoir and recent Naas scorer Areana head up the dangers, in that order.