Lyle Lady ready to go one better
The daughter of Traditionally is trained on the Curragh by John McConnell, who has indicated more than once of late that he knows the time of day!
The selection merely hinted at having ability on her debut at headquarters, but stepped up markedly on that performance at the Galway Festival.
Going off at 25-1, she made a mockery of those odds with a cracking display. Lyle Lady was beaten half a length into second by Dan Noir, in a contest which has been working out particularly well.
The third and fourth respectively, Captainofthefleeet and Rio Command, have since filled the runner-up berths in useful enough contests, while Cheval Rouge (sixth) and Miss Laa Di Da (seventh) have both won in the meantime.
Best contest on the programmne is the M F Bourke (Homes) Ltd Race, which very much centres on the state of fitness of Whatuthink.
He was last seen in a Grade 1 hurdle at the Punchestown Festival back in April, when third behind Fiveforthree and Pettifour.
Prior to that, the seven-year-old won a modest 14 furlongs flat race at Tipperary by six lengths.
Whatuthink will obviously be all the better for the outing and faces a long winter campaign, but the fact he is appearing so early is encouraging and, perhaps, is straight enough to do himself justice!
Betting regularly in five furlong contests for horses rated between 47-65 would soon see one scrambling for the mortgage money, but an exception might be made for the Golf Bag Handicap.
Faynita could be worth a minor wager, running off a mark just a pound higher, after scoring by two and a half lengths at Cork earlier in the month in an apprentice race. The capable Julie Burke was in the plate then and is again entrusted with the ride.
* Today’s rescheduled meeting at Killarney was cancelled after an inspection yesterday morning.
The meeting had been saved from last week but persistent rain in the area has dashed any hopes of the card taking place.
Meanwhile, tomorrow’s sprint races at Tipperary have been abandoned – with an 8am inspection called for this morning to assess the prospects for the rest of the card.
Following an inspection yesterday, the sprint course was found to be waterlogged, which has led to the abandonment of the Listed Danehill Dancer Tipperary Stakes and the Sean Barrett Bloodstock Maiden.
