Lake can sink rivals
Winner of his maiden on this track, the selection makes a quick reappearance following a promising performance at Navan on Saturday.
Always on the pace then, Callow Lake ran on stoutly up the straight to finish half a length and a length third behind Silk Screen and Corrib Boy.
This progressive sort is fancied to see off some useful rivals, best of whom may well be Tuppenny Cody. Tony Mullins’ charge, who likes to race from the front, had just been headed when falling at the last in the contest won in smooth style by Harchibald at Leopardstown.
Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh can team up with Major Burns to take the Slievenamon Maiden Hurdle. The six-year-old will be making his jumping debut, in a contest which is confined to horses who have never run more than twice over flights.
Major Burns, easy winner of a Wexford bumper, has been rested since finishing a length and a half second to the useful The Posh Paddy at Roscommon in August.
Fitness is never a worry with candidates from this quarter and he is given preference over La Mandragola, who came from behind when a remote fifth of 23 to Burntoakboy at Punchestown.
Aidan O’Brien doesn’t run too many horses on this track and his Oh So Precious is obviously interesting in the Irish Stallion Farms’ Fillies Maiden.
She kept the best of company last season, often quite fruitlessly, rounding off her campaign with a creditable fifth to Alexander Goldrun in a Listed event at the Curragh. The daughter of Sadlers Wells gets the vote, on the basis of having achieved more than the opposition, but her travels in the market could be more significant than anything the form book tells us!
