Rely on Rock
Robert Tyner’s charge is a talented and consistent sort, who should, at worst, go close. She has been successful in the point-to-point fields, so jumping is hardly a worry, and has progressed quite nicely in bumpers.
The six-year-olds latest performance was her best, coming at the Punchestown festival 20 days ago.
Indeed, she looked all over a winner a furlong down, but was worried out of it close home and beaten a length and a half by Willie Mullins’ Morning Run.
The form has been working out reasonably well. The third at Punchestown, Crofton Trail, finished second at Kilbeggan last Friday evening and, on the same card, the Punchestown fifth, Queen Alphabet, scored over flights.
Roisin Dubh gets the nod in the Nire Valley Mares’ Handicap Hurdle, having taken second to Seismic on the flat on this track earlier in the month.
Prior to that, at Limerick, Roisin Dubh, was a neck runner-up behind Hospital over flights and the latter followed by doing the business over fences at Killarney last week.
Thefiddlerofduneen might give Paul Flynn a welcome turn in the St Patrick’s Well Maiden Hurdle.
She has been running poorly on the flat of late, but her only outing over jumps saw Thefiddlerofduneen dead-heat for second with Tooreen Legend, half a length adrift of the favourite, Sharjah, at Roscommon in August.
Harry Kelly’s Ballintotty Boy, beaten by market-leader, Gordon Elliott’s Officer Cadet, at Down Royal, gets the vote in the Bumper.
