Ethopian to benefit from faster surface
He ran no sort of race on that occasion, trailing in a long way behind in a contest which was won by Personal Column.
Noel Meade’s charge, gelded in the meantime, disappointed previously as well, failing to justify short-priced favouritism when only fifth to Fond Of A Drop at Fairyhouse.
Both of those races, however, were run on surfaces with plenty of cut and the selection is surely best judged on his display in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown at Christmas.
On good ground, The Ethiopian finished a creditable third behind the classy Won In The Dark and Indian Spring and a reproduction of that effort will see him make short work of this opposition.
Pat Fahy’s My Valley is the choice to land a tightly-knit two mile Sporting Press Tipperary Cup Handicap.
This is a smart mare, when on song, and she hinted at a return to her best when fourth behind Oscar Rebel in a Grade 3 hurdle at Punchestown.
My Valley hasn’t had an outing on the level since scoring twice at the Galway Festival last year and a rise in the weights of 11lbs for those wins looks reasonable.
Kharsya, sixth to Beach Bunny on her debut at Leopardstown, could be all the rage for the Irish Stallion Farms’ EBF Maiden, particularly as second placed Sail stepped well up in class to score at Chester yesterday.
Preference, however, is for Pat Flynn’s Mon Champion, who appeared to be crying out for further when three lengths runner-up behind Mr Medici over a mile at Gowran Park back in October. Flynn could also supply the solution to the Bumper with Hard And Fast, returning from a break wehen fourth to Bob Lingo at Punchestown last month.
