Soft ground won’t hinder Hurricane Ridge
It was my first winner at the strand course and completed the full house for me as I have now trained a winner at every course in Ireland.
It was a good day in those terms as Patrick Mullins and Paul Townend also got on the mark, meaning they have a clean sweep of riding winners at all the country’s racing venues.
Parramatta did it really well too. She enjoyed the surface but we were taking a chance with the distance. Having won a two-mile bumper and been placed in two staying maidens, the shortest distance she had run was a mile and a half, so seven furlongs was a bit of a gamble.
But as I said, she loved the quick surface and flew home to win by two and a half lengths. It wasn’t a good maiden but it was nice to win one and we’ll have plenty of fun with her now on the all-weather.
It was brilliant to see Snow Fairy winning the Champion Stakes at Leopardstown last Saturday. She spent time in my satellite yard for tw o months trotting around the roads as she stepped up her recovery from a very serious leg injury.
I have been training horses for Snow Fairy’s owner, Mrs Patino, for a number of years and trained Snow Fairy’s dam, Woodland Dream, to win a handicap in Leopardstown. So to see the filly put up such a good performance at the same track was very exciting. When you add the ease of this win to her comeback victory at Deauville, you’d almost think that at the age of five, she has improved again.
It wasn’t such a memorable day for my own horses. Ironically, given all the complaining I’ve been doing about the ground this year, it was too quick for Ballybacka Lady in the Matron Stakes. She is in foal now so she’s gone home.
I expressed concern about Fairy Wing’s draw and it proved too much of a handicap. He never got into the contest. Because of that though, he didn’t have a hard race and so he can reappear quickly at the Curragh over a mile today. He has a much better draw and it will depend on how much the ground dries out. Hopefully it will dry out plenty and I’m happy with him.
To complete a pretty disastrous day for my own runners in Leopardstown, Peggy’s Leg reared in the stalls before her maiden and made no impact.
Dane Street disappointed again at the Curragh the following day but Overcall ran a good race when fifth. I was happy with him and he proved to me that he stays, which gives us more options.
In Galway on Monday, Miss McNamara finally made her racecourse debut. She has been a big, backward three-year-old filly that we have had to wait a long time for so she could come to hand. The main thing for us was that she came back sound because the ground was heavy. We can now really train her and she will only improve.
It was soft by Tuesday but that was still not what Run ‘N Jump would like. She’s only a little four-year-old so we’re going to give her time.
Back to the Curragh today and Steps To Freedom takes his chance in the Gain Horse Feeds Irish St Leger. We’ll see what happens. It’s obviously a very strong race, a Classic, with plenty of strong contenders but if the ground comes up good, Steps will love it.
Kate rides Johnny’s Legacy in the Amateur Derby. He has been very consistent for us this year and he’ll run a good race. A mile and a half will suit.
Tomorrow we have Hurricane Ridge in the three-year-old hurdle. He did it very well when winning his maiden at the first time of asking in Killarney.
Noel Meade’s Top Man Michael is the one to beat but Hurricane was a higher rated horse on the flat so I’m hoping he has that little bit more class. And he won’t mind the soft ground.
I am hoping it isn’t too soft for Burn And Turn though and she won’t run if it is. It’s an 18-runner beginners’ chase but Burn And Turn has experience on her side. If the conditions aren’t too testing, she would have a good shout.
I have a lot of entries at Listowel during the week as it’s a festival I always enjoy. The likes of Citizenship and Chino Valdes carry the hopes in a couple of the handicap hurdles on Thursday, while Alpine Eagle would have an each-way chance in the Kerry National the day before.
He is in good form and has done well since coming back from injury, with a win in Tipperary and second in Down Royal. I couldn’t believe how well he ran on soft to heavy ground to be fifth in the Galway Plate. If it isn’t too soft, he should be very competitive.
