11:40 Down Royal

Friday 26 December 2025

All11:4012:1512:4813:2313:5814:3315:08

Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 11:41 | Winning time: 4m 57.0s

Augusta George⁴²⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: Carl Millar⁽⁵⁾| T: W J Bryson| OR: 98

66/1

Bumper winner at Downpatrick in August 2024. Tailed-off sixth of 7 in maiden hurdle (28/1) at this course (22.5f, good to soft) when last seen 14 months ago. Has just one standout effort over hurdles so hard to see him featuring.

Form: 861826-

Dippedinmoonlight³⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Ricky Doyle| T: E Mullins| BF

3/1

Solid form in bumpers. Unable to justify strong support when midfield in a fairly useful novice at Cork on hurdles bow but back on track with a Flat success in a 14f Navan (soft) maiden. Ran well when fourth of 16 in maiden hurdle (2/1) at Fairyhouse (20.4f, heavy) 5 weeks ago and should progress.

Form: 1213-84

Miss Doyenne²⁴⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Patrick M O'Brien⁽⁵⁾| T: H De Bromhead

5/1

Successful on the second of 2 starts in points and looked a good prospect when winning 13-runner bumper (7/2) at Cork (16f, good to soft) on NH debut 8 months ago, finding extra when headed briefly 1f out. Bred to stay this far so is one to note now hurdling.

Form: 311-

Albus

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Jordan Gainford| T: G Elliott

20/1

Elusive Pimpernel gelding. Half-brother to bumper winner Mason City. Dam (h110) 19f hurdle winner, also 8.4f-1¾m winner on Flat. Market check needed on debut.

Form:

Areema Dreamer

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: Eoin Staples⁽⁷⁾| T: Tom Dreaper

150/1

Golden Lariat gelding. Dam (b79) lightly raced in bumpers. Likely outsider on debut.

Form:

Astley²³⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Mr R Guiney⁽⁷⁾| T: Paul Traynor

50/1

Has one standout effort in bumpers and looks a big outsider on hurdles bow after 7 months off.

Form: 8720-

Ballyedward^t²⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Mr S Connor⁽⁷⁾| T: S R B Crawford

25/1

Showed modest on the second of 2 outings in bumpers and ran to a similar level when sixth of 11 in novice at Ayr (16f, heavy) on hurdles bow 25 days ago. Up in trip.

Form: 3/P20-36

Blueys Unicorse⁵⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-4| J: Miss G Benson⁽⁷⁾| T: D M Christie

33/1

€15,000 6-y-o, Malinas gelding. Dam unraced. Won second of 3 starts in points, runner-up last time (Nov 2).

Form: 21-2

Brackens Jet

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: Sean Cleary-Farrell⁽⁷⁾| T: Cian Hughes

150/1

Jet Away gelding. Half-brother to 3 winners, including fair hurdler Tomgarrow and fair 3m hurdle winner Lubeat Foras. Dam unraced half-sister to fairly useful hurdler/chaser (stayed 25f) Beautiful Vision and fairly useful hurdler/fair chaser (stayed 2½m) Away For Slates.

Form:

Court Compliance³³

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Philip Byrnes| T: W Durkan

5/6

Placed both starts in points and showed plenty to work on when second of 14 in maiden hurdle at Punchestown (21.9f, soft) 33 days ago, bumping into one with plenty of experience. Leading claims of going one better.

Form: 32-2

Largy Spirit²⁵¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Conor Smithers⁽⁷⁾| T: N C Kelly

80/1

Still looked in need of experience when second of 7 in novice hurdle at Carlisle (19.3f, good, 11/2) on hurdles bow 8 months ago. First run for yard after leaving Stuart Crawford.

Form: 5/62-

Mr Devlin²⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: Ivan Ryan⁽⁷⁾| T: Conor Maxwell

125/1

50/1, held back by inexperience when tailed-off ninth of 17 in maiden hurdle at Thurles (16f, good to soft) on debut 29 days ago. Up in trip.

Form: 9

Sept Etoiles⁵⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: Sam Ewing| T: G Elliott

11/2

Showed ability when fourth of 15 in maiden hurdle at this course (16.9f, good to soft, 15/2) on debut 8 weeks ago. Likely to improve, especially now heading up in distance.

Form: 4

Bet On Beauty^t1²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: Eoghan Finegan⁽⁷⁾| T: N C Kelly

150/1

Winning pointer but showed nothing when tailed off in maiden hurdle (80/1) at Navan (16f, heavy) on NH debut 20 days ago. Up in trip. Tongue strap on for 1st time.

Form: 1-0

Coppola⁴⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: Richard Condon⁽⁵⁾| T: C A McBratney

200/1

No impact in 3 maiden hurdles. Off 16 months. First run for yard after leaving P. M. Cloke. Maiden pointer, runner-up last time (Nov 16).

Form: 225P-P2

Dunsy Rock

Age: 4| Weight: 10-11| J: Paddy Cleary⁽⁷⁾| T: G Elliott

66/1

Poet's Word filly. Half-sister to 2 winners, including French hurdler/chaser Cote de Grace. Dam unraced half-sister to fairly useful hurdler/very smart chaser (stayed 2¾m) Central House. 1 of 3 for this yard.

Form:

Hellfire Hathaway

Age: 4| Weight: 10-11| J: Finn Brickley⁽⁷⁾| T: Mrs D Foster

80/1

Berkshire filly. Half-sister to useful hurdler/chaser Lisnamult Lad, stays 25f. Dam unraced half-sister to useful hurdler/smart chaser (stayed 3¼m) Regal Heights. Market can guide.

Form:

Somersby Roost^t⁴⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: Phillip Enright| T: O McKiernan

80/1

Winning pointer. 50/1 and tongue strap on, offered something to work on when well-beaten fifth of 16 in maiden hurdle at Naas (16f, heavy) on NH debut 47 days ago. Up in trip. Open to progress.

Form: P261-5

Non-Runners

Native Policy³⁹

Weight: 11-4| Age: 5

T: E Cawley J: John Shinnick

Forecasts

Court Compliance (5/6), Dippedinmoonlight (3/1), Miss Doyenne (5/1), Sept Etoiles (11/2), Albus (20/1), Ballyedward (25/1), Blueys Unicorse (33/1), Astley (50/1), Dunsy Rock (66/1), Augusta George (66/1), Somersby Roost (80/1), Largy Spirit (80/1), Hellfire Hathaway (80/1), Native Policy (100/1), Mr Devlin (125/1), Brackens Jet (150/1), Areema Dreamer (150/1), Bet On Beauty (150/1), Coppola (200/1)

A huge field but only a handful make any serious appeal, COURT COMPLIANCE selected to go one better than at Punchestown last month with improvement on the cards. Miss Doyenne won a Cork bumper on her only start under Rules last season so she's interesting now hurdling for leading connections, with Dippedinmoonlight and Sept Etoiles another couple worth considering, too.