Princess shows her true colours in ‘1000’
Given my background, I love going to the eventing competitions anyway but I’m an advisor to the high performance manager, Ginny Leng – or Ginny Elliot as she is now – so it is a sort of a busman’s holiday for me.
A lot of our potential Olympic pairings are competing and with the weather likely to be good, it is an excellent opportunity to get a first-hand look at some of those that might represent Ireland in London.
Although we had two winners, the highlight of the week was Pincess Sinead finishing third in the 1000 Guineas. I knew her last run wasn’t the right one and said that in this column last week. We rode her differently as well and it was brilliant.
She is going to be really valuable now as a broodmare. What we will try to do next is to make her a Stakes winner. She’s won her maiden and been placed in a Listed race, a Group 3 and a Group 1. So if we could win a Listed or Group race now, that would cap it all off. It is a fantastic success for Princess Sinead’s owner, Mrs Moran. Not only did she breed the filly, but she raced her sire, Jeremy.
I was delighted with Bible Belt finishing fourth in the Tattersalls Gold Cup on her first run of the season. She will come on loads for that. I had hoped that Backbench Blues might win the premier handicap but it was a funny race as Royal Diamond went off way in front and we never got into it.
Newberry Hill ran well but was stopped just when he was making his run. Fran wasn’t hard in him and he’s a nice horse. Absolute Crackers was fourth in the Group 3. She stayed on very well and looks like she will want further.
On Saturday, Liberating was fourth in the Marble Hill. Maybe she wasn’t as sharp as I wanted her as she hadn’t run in eight weeks and depending on how she goes in a piece of work this morning, she might run in the Listed Sprint Stakes at Naas on Monday.
We’ll have to draw a line through Calissa’s racecourse debut as she didn’t behave well in the stalls and had her race run before leaving them.
On Friday in Cork, Beachdale Lad won his three mile maiden hurdle very easily. He’s got a little bit of a holiday now and when he comes back will run in a couple of winners’ three mile hurdles. He stays well and what he’ll really love is to jump a fence, but he’s only five so we won’t rush him into that yet.
Parramatta had a couple of runs on soft round but finally got it good at Ballinasloe on Monday and won very easily. I’m not saying it was the greatest of races but she couldn’t have done it any easier. She will take her chance now in a winners’ bumper at Tipperary on Thursday. We will run her through the summer as she wants the ground. She’s only four so if she won her winners’ bumper, we might have a bit of a flat campaign with her.
The Bull Hayes ran a good race when second to Absolutlyfantastic in a beginners’ chase at Ballinasloe on Tuesday. He made a bad mistake three out that probably ended his chance but he was behind Henry’s horse in Killarney and the same applied. They think a lot of Henry’s horse and they were a long way ahead of the third.
Greenbelt Star ran a hell of a race to be a five-length fourth in his first handicap, on his first run for ten months. I think there’s a good handicap hurdle in him the way he’s handicapped.
Green Chorus has come on a good bit and after running into a handicap good thing in Time Of My Life in Wexford, I’m hoping she might be able to go close as she drops back to a 3-y-o fillies’ maiden at Tamore today.
I’m looking forward to One Fine Day at Listowel tomorrow. She ran a cracker when fourth on her debut run a fortnight ago. She was a little sharp going down to the start that day and Shane didn’t fire her out of the stalls as a result. She finished really well up the straight once she got the hang of things and is back in a median auction race now. I hope she’ll run a very big race.
I am likely to be much busier on the Bank Holiday Monday. Celtic Cailin will probably go for the mares’ maiden hurdle at Naas having been second in a Downpatrick maiden a couple of weeks ago. As long as the ground is good she’ll run and a repeat of her last effort would make her a decent prospect.
Burn And Turn seems to be good. She worked well the other day. It’s a drop in class from what was a fairly strong beginners’ chase last time in which she finished fourth. She’s taking on mares only this time and although there are a couple of good ones there, she should go very close.
One I’m really looking forward to is Dane Street in a fillies’ maiden next Wednesday at Fairyhouse. She was third in a similar contest at Leopardstown in March that has worked out very well. I have had to be patient as the ground wasn’t right and there were no fillies’ maidens over the right distance, but this is the opportunity I have been waiting for.
