Calgacus the one to beat in maiden
The son of Galileo was a 16-1 shot on his seasonal debut at Leopardstown last month and we can be certain no such fancy prices will be available this time round. Dermot Weld’s colt stayed on strongly at the end of ten furlongs to take third place behind the favourite, Azamata, and Dynamite Dixie.
The form is ordinary, Dynamite Dixie got beaten at Cork last Saturday, but Calgacus will surely benefit from stepping up to a mile and a half.
In that Leopardstown race, he had Aidan O’Brien Chicago three and a quarter lengths behind in fifth place.
That was Chicago’s first outing, so plenty of improvement may be forthcoming and his movements in the market will be worth noting.
Kevin Prendergast’s once-raced Soohaad is the choice in the seven furlongs Irish Stallion Farms’ EBF Maiden.
The American-bred caught the eye when sixth of 17 behind Eternal Bounty at Leopardstown back in October.
That is a contest which has largely been working out well and thrown up a number of future winners.
Prendergast’s lightly-raced Emotional Dream gets a hopeful nod in the concluding Thomastown Maiden.
She has obviously been difficult enough to train, but made a promising reappearance at Limerick two weeks ago when grabbed late and beaten a neck into second by Ri An Domhnaigh.
