Ocean Manifest poised for maiden success at Dundalk
Ocean Manifest can get off the mark in the View Restaurant At Dundalk Stadium Maiden on Tuesday for trainer Stephen Thorne. Pic: Healy Racing
A full day of action, with National Hunt racing in Punchestown filling the afternoon, and then a seven-race card in Dundalk which gets underway at 5pm.
The nap comes on the all-weather, where Ocean Manifest can get off the mark in the View Restaurant At Dundalk Stadium Maiden.
Clearly, the four-year-old has not been easy to train, having run just five times in his career, but he has run well enough to suggest he is up to winning a maiden and will be hard to beat if at the top of his game.
He was below that level on his first start for Stephen Thorne but was given time off before returning at Killarney’s July meeting, where he was a shade unlucky to be collared close home by the patiently ridden Red Hugh O’Donnell. At a level, that form looks pretty solid, and the selection has once again been given plenty of time since that outing.
The seven-furlong trip on this surface should be ideal for him and with Jack Kearney taking a valuable 3lbs off his back, he can get the breakthrough his ability deserves.
There are similarities between that selection and Sidiza, who runs in the finale, the Christmas Party Nights At Dundalk Book Now Handicap, but she can also get amongst the winners on this card.
As with Ocean Manifest, there are notable gaps between her outings, but this lady has a winning mark on her card, which she earned in September of last year.
She has since had just one run, and that was in a handicap at this venue, and resulted in a third-place finish. Noted keeping on quite well over that ten-furlong trip, she will appreciate the step up to a mile and a half and if ready after a 105-day break, she will take beating in what looks like an ordinary handicap.
The jumps card in Punchestown consists of six hurdles and a bumper and Glen Kiln can gain a small degree of compensation for his desperately unlucky late departure in a Grade Three at Tipperary by taking the William Hill Committed To Proper Value Hurdle.
Harry Kelly’s runner had just gone on when meeting the last flight all wrong and decanting his rider strides after the obstacle in that Tipp race. Regardless, that was a career-best from the six-year-old and there is no reason he cannot improve further.
The extra couple of furlongs of this race are obviously no problem to the gelding who won over two and three-quarter miles on his previous outing, and he can get the better of some smart rivals this time.
5:00 Prairie Girl
5:35 Valiant Force
6:10 Fleur De Rose
6:45 Ocean Manifest (nap)
7:15 Independent Expert
7:45 Johnny’s Oasis
8:15 Sidiza (nb)
5:00 Rift Valley
5:35 Songhai
6:10 A La Dure
6:45 Senti Qua
7:15 Empress Artemis
7:45 Le Fleur Princess
8:15 Beauty Generation
2:05 Superficial
2:35 Derry Lad
3:05 Glen Kiln
3:35 Reiki Revolution
4:05 Newport
4:36 Rising Dust
5:10 Easter Bonnet
2:05 Hopes Are High
2:35 Bearami Creek
3:05 Smooth Tom
3:35 Youre A Derry Girl
4:05 Pleasureofpressure
4:36 Walking On Glass
5:10 Foxy Footprints
