All Souls looks well treated in rated hurdle
Eddie O’Grady’s runners have been in fine form recently, and this fellow made a winning debut over timber when winning at Navan in February.
Next time up, exactly a month ago, he finished third at Limerick, beaten three parts of a length behind Bellow Mome, with the useful A Great View separating them.
That level of form reads well in the context of this race, and as he is just four years old and with plenty of scope for improvement, he looks well treated off a mark of 122.
While time may prove decent ground is most suitable, today’s yielding-to-soft conditions won’t be a problem.
Many of his rivals are having their first for quite some time, and that edge in terms of fitness and potential for improvement can ensure an immediate return to winning ways.
Pistol Park can make up for his Fairyhouse disappointment by taking the beginners’ chase for Alan Fleming.
Last time out, he was quite well backed but his jumping lacked fluency at the business end of the race, and he had to settle for third place behind Young Finnegan, with one of tonight’s rivals, Vercingetorix, getting up late to snatch second place.
However, Pistol Park was more competitive through that race and can be expected to reverse the form. With the cheekpieces he sported in France back on today, and a more positive ride expected, he should prove very hard to catch.
Vercingetorix will be without the tongue-tie he has worn in his last five outings, and it’s also a concern that his two previous efforts at this track returned sub-par performances. He was touched off by Esta Quercus on the first of them, and then no match for Aminabad on his next run here. Nevertheless, he is amongst the most talented in the race and thus must be respected.
