Time right to catch Ninetieth Minute
Tom Taaffe’s towering four-year-old, successful in his only bumper outing, at Clonmel, shaped with huge promise when runner-up to the smart and experienced Majestic Concorde on his hurdling debut at Punchestown last month.
Well-fancied for that competitive maiden, Ninetieth Minute came out of the pack to chase the winner between the last two flights and looked held when making a mistake at the last obstacle.
But the Old Vic gelding kept going well to be beaten four lengths by Majestic Concorde (eased) with dual bumper-winner Taravada third. The form has been boosted by subsequent wins for fourth-placed Shazand and Agamard (seventh). Ninetieth Minute should have improved from his Punchestown run and is a confident choice to beat Eoin Griffin’s Sanglote, a decent second to Cottage Oak in a Cork bumper last time.
The Liam Burke-trained Step Outside, a winning point-to-pointer, looks another attractive bet in the Gowran Park Golf Winter Team Maiden Hurdle after creditable recent efforts in good company.
Step Outside finished fifth to Whatuthink (later third in the ‘Royal Bond’ at Fairyhouse) in a two-mile maiden at Cork before filling fourth spot in the maiden won by Venalmar at Punchestown last Sunday.
The selection should appreciate the step-up to three miles today. Shay Bary’s mount is preferred to Montero, another successful ‘pointer’ which made a winning start to his career on the track when landing a recent bumper at Thurles.
