Longer trip should be ideal for Silverhand
The eight-year-old’s latest outing saw him land a conditions hurdle at Galway earlier in the month, quickening nicely from the final flight to beat ill-fated Tornedo Shay and subsequent chase winner, Twinlight.
That was a decent enough effort, considering it was the grey’s first outing since taking third to Baily Green and Laganbank at Roscommon in May.
That contest was over two miles, the selection was doing all of his best work at the end, and stepping up to two and a half now should prove ideal.
Dessie Hughes’ Tofino Bay will be a major worry, should the market speak in his favour. He got better and better over flights as last season progressed, but this is his initial pop over fences and his first run for 156 days.
Make A Track is fancied to overcome an absence of 174 days in the two miles and six Albany Hurdle.
Like Tofino Bay, he too progressed nicely through last season, producing probably his best performance when a close fourth behind Malcolm Jefferson’s Attaglance in the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival.
Encouragingly, in the two campaigns Make A Track has raced so far, he has won first time out on both occasions.
At the Curragh tomorrow Battle Of Marengo has to get the vote in the Group 2 Juddmonte Beresford Stakes.
He was heavily backed to take a Listed race at Leopardstown last time and didn’t disappoint, powering home a length and three parts clear of subsequent winner, Trading Leather.
Kevin Prendergast’s Spinacre gets the nap in the Group 3 C L Weld Park Stakes. She won her maiden by ten lengths at Roscommon and was then far too good for Reglisse in a Listed event at headquarters.
At Clonmel tomorrow Sea Of Thunder can make a winning debut over fences in the Irish Stallion Farms’ EBF Captain Christy Novice Chase. A useful enough hurdler, he was going to win in a canter at Cheltenham last December, but for falling at the final flight. In any case Sea Of Thunder was only marking time at that game and this is surely, you’d imagine, his true calling.
