Go On Murt worth sticking with back at Dundalk
I only have one at Fairyhouse on Sunday and Overcall is having his first run in a seven-furlong maiden for three-year-olds and older.
He’s a big Choisir horse and we hope he’ll like the soft ground. He has grown a lot. He was backward last year as a two-year-old which is why he never ran. He has taken a long time to come to himself this year too but he’s a nice horse and there’ll be improvement from this run. He has worked well though and we’re hoping for the best. We certainly haven’t rushed him.
Go On Murt would be worth sticking with back at Dundalk on Monday night. He has been put up eight pounds for his win on Thursday which will get him into that race. The handicapper didn’t touch him after his previous run, when he was fourth having encountered loads of trouble, so I can’t really complain.
He was giving me the second leg of a welcome double on the all-weather and even though he had to come wide, I thought he won the mile handicap a little bit snugly. It was a good ride by Fran as he is a hold-up horse, so there is always a danger of encountering traffic as happened the previous day.
We had cheek pieces on just to help him concentrate as he was looking around a bit in Naas and they certainly did the trick.
I would hope he can improve again and I’m pretty sure he will, so it would be nice to get another couple of wins from him before the handicapper gets a hold of him. The key thing really is that he is a colt that has improved physically and we’re seeing the benefit of that now.
Steps To Freedom notched up the first leg in the two mile handicap, winning as he should have done really given his form. When you consider that he finished only three lengths behind Fame And Glory, he would want to have been taking this. Having said that, giving 21 pounds to the second horse and still winning by four-and-a-half lengths, without being overly extended was a very good effort. He really loved the surface, having had to run on ground he doesn’t like for most of his national hunt campaign.
A number of intended engagements on the flat have fallen by the wayside too and I was tearing my hair out as the ground kept ruling him out so it was great to be able to get a run into him. He bounced off the polytrack. I haven’t seen him quickening up like that for a long time but he’ll do it if he gets quick ground.
He is entered along with Bob Le Beau for the Listed Challenge Stakes at Leopardstown next Thursday but it would have to dry up. There are a number of other possibilities including the Ebor, the St Leger and some other mile-and-six listed races over here.
Having had so many difficulties getting horses out over the last few weeks, we made full use of Dundalk, bringing five in total. In fact we ended up with seven runners in all that evening, with two more going to Leopardstown.
Apart from the winners at Dundalk, Empress of Tara was a little disappointing but it was her first time on the all-weather and she didn’t like the kickback at all.
Baffles Brains hadn’t run since April and really blew up, having raced prominently for a spell.
Lack of match practice caught him out and while he may not be the best horse in the world, he will definitely improve for that run. Mellifont Abbey never landed a blow at all.
At Leopardstown, Citizenship just blew up as he would have badly needed the run. His aim is the Galway Hurdle and he would relish the conditions they normally get there. He could continue his preparations in Killarney next week.
I was delighted with Beyond Berlin. He ran a lovely race when fourth in the mile-and-a-half maiden. He wouldn’t have been too happy with the soft ground but he seems to like it around Leopardstown, having finished third there on his first run.
Looking back at some of our other runners in the past week, Clouded Thoughts just dragged her legs through a fence in Limerick and in Robert’s own words, he fell off, while Scholars Princess and Lotus Lily were both disappointing in the bumper. They got a bit stuck in the mud but they were disappointing nonetheless.
Heroic Endeavour gave a much improved effort when fourth in a six-furlong handicap at Naas on Wednesday. The trainer got it wrong with him. He needs six or seven furlongs, not a mile and two, which I ran him over last time! He has more speed than I thought and being one of the few I have that likes it soft, we’ll get him out again as soon as I can find a race for him.
There aren’t too many pointers I can give for the week ahead for the same reasons as usual. I have a lot of entries for Killarney but it’s soft down there at the moment.
I’d like to run Citizenship, Takeyourcapoff, Bullock Harbour and Masterofdeception, as well as a few flat horses.
