Chief can build on promising debut
The three-year-old made a reasonably promising debut at the Galway festival 18 days ago and can be fancied to build on that.
At Ballybrit, the selection went off a 12-1 shot in a six-horse affair won in good style by Dermot Weld’s hot pot, Massinga.
Ring Chief was eventually beaten ten lengths into third, with John Oxx’s Awesome Star, surely a winner in waiting, filling the runner up spot.
The form has been working out quite nicely. Massinga went on to land a handicap at Leopardstown last Thursday, while the fourth at Galway, Falkirk, subsequently scored at Ballinrobe.
Ring Chief should be well suited to dropping down two furlongs in trip now and, as a son of Teofilo, the faster the surface the better.
Invincible Diamond gets the vote in the Irish Stallion Farms’ EBF Median Auction Maiden. The son of Arakan made a decent start at Cork earlier this month when fourth to Blackbriar.
Third in that contest was Aidan O’Brien’s General Marshall and he ran a cracker behind the more than useful Toscanini at Dundalk on Sunday.
Pat Fahy’s Donatis Comet is surely the one to beat in the Club Sligo Supporting Sligo GAA Maiden Hurdle.
Donatis Comet is far from bombproof, but this is a weak race and he did perform better than might have been anticipated when third to Beckwith Star in a 20-runner handicap hurdle at Galway last time.
