Gowran Park tips: Dani Barcelona can make winning Flat debut

Dani Barcelona and Patrick Mullins on the way to an impressive victory in a mares’ bumper in Clonmel last June. Picture: Healy Racing

Bumper winner Dani Barcelona makes her Flat debut this afternoon at Gowran Park and can make it a winning one by taking the Racing Again September 18 Maiden for Willie Mullins.

The five-year-old made an impressive start to her career when running out a wide-margin winner of a mares’ bumper at Clonmel but was a shade disappointing second time up at Galway, where she finished ninth behind The Gossiper.

That race didn’t go to plan for her, and she showed enough speed on her first start to suggest a switch to the Flat could be on the cards. In today’s race, over a mile and a half, she has been found a good opportunity and can account for useful hurdler/chaser Conflated and the somewhat frustrating Ballinlough Gale.

Conflated is seven now and his most recent wins, both over fences, were at two and a half miles.

Like the selection, he won a Clonmel bumper, but that was back in early 2019 and he is likely to find today’s trip plenty sharp enough at this stage of his career.

The market will likely tell the story prior to the Join The Gowran Park Racing Club Maiden and if it speaks in favour of Rekero, he will surely get off the mark at the second time of asking.

On his only outing to date, 117 days ago, the Joseph O’Brien-trained colt ran a superb race to finish a close fourth behind Castletownbere, with the 86-rated HMS Seahorse and the now 85-rated Safecracker in between them.

A 725,000 guineas purchase at the 2019 Tattersalls Yearling Sales, he sports blinkers this time, but this looks a much more manageable task than was his first, and he can come through with flying colours. Safari Quest has plenty of experience and will be hard to keep out of the frame, while, at likely bigger odds, Royal Eagle can also go well.

GOWRAN PARK

Tommy Lyons

1:35 Cornman

2:05 Flying Rock

2:35 Fly Girl

3:05 Carirose

3:35 Kaaranah

4:05 Rekero (nb)

4:40 Dani Barcelona (Nap)

Next best

1:35 Nero Tulip

2:05 Mother Country

2:35 Santa Florentina

3:05 Tynamite

3:35 Petticoat Rule

4:05 Safari Quest

4:40 Conflated