Never Ambling

(Jessica Harrington)

Dundalk, April 4th

As is fully entitled to be the case at this time of year, Jessica Harrington feels her team are improving for their first starts of the season. With that in mind, the debut effort of well-bred three-year-old Never Ambling is one to be particularly positive about, beaten just half a length in the colours of Eddie Walsh behind an Amo Racing debutant. The pair finished a little way clear of the third-placed First Wave, a Ballydoyle colt who arrived with a rating of 90 after a trio of seconds in maidens, including two at the Curragh. According to Coursetrack’s sectional times, nothing in the line-up came home faster than this No Nay Never colt, who is a half-brother to Group 3/listed-winning sprinter Mince (peak Timeform rating of 118+). He’s open to improvement and should have little trouble going one better in a maiden.

Zahrann

(Johnny Murtagh)

Navan, April 8th

Johnny Murtagh bagged two three-year-old maidens across the mid-week cards at Navan and Leopardstown this week, and it very nearly was a hat-trick when Zahrann just failed in a bid to make a winning debut over a mile at the Co Meath track. Like Never Ambling, this Aga Khan home-bred clocked faster closing sectionals for the final two furlongs than any other horse in this 12-runner field and was touched off by a head from the Aidan O’Brien-trained Mississippi River. That rival had a significant experience edge, making his fifth start and already having the benefit of a run this season. By a top sire in Night Of Thunder and out of Group 3/listed winner Zannda, Zahrann is bred to have a future and this was a bright beginning to his career, despite coming up just short on the day. He doesn’t look the finished article yet by any means and showed natural ability to get to where he did considering his greenness for a period.

Tswalu

(Joseph O’Brien)

Leopardstown, April 9th

Catalina Delcarpio went down as easily one of the most impressive maiden winners of the season so far when bolting up on debut at Leopardstown this week for Paddy Twomey, leaving runner-up Tswalu, a smart prospect in her own right, in her wake. The second’s trainer Joseph O’Brien said ahead of last season that he was making a concerted effort to “start a bit slower and aim for summer onwards” in 2024. While he has been among the winners this week, based on how some of his early runners have begun the new season, it’s conceivable that he could be adopting a similar approach this term, and Tswalu looks a candidate to come forward from this seasonal reappearance. David Nagle’s Justify filly was a definite eye-catcher on her debut at Cork last autumn when sixth, but shaping much better than the bare result, and there is encouragement in her pedigree that she’ll be an improver at three. Her sister, Shamwari, got blacktype over a mile and a half for the same connections, and this Leopardstown maiden has been a rich source for quality fillies down the years. She’ll probably have to be unlucky to bump into rivals of Catalina Delcarpio’s calibre in other fillies’ maidens in time.

Lombardi Trophy

(Donnacha O’Brien)

Leopardstown, April 9th

Aidan O’Brien gave a positive mention to newcomer Stay True at a recent Ballydoyle press morning, and the Galileo three-year-old duly won at the first time of asking at Leopardstown in a 10-furlong maiden on Wednesday. In behind and worth keeping an eye on for future reference, however, was the Donnacha O’Brien-trained Lombardi Trophy - another Galileo colt with every chance of mixing it at a decent level this summer on the basis of this introductory effort. He looked a bit raw early, not exactly latching on in the opening strides, and showed some greenness when first being asked to improve from the second half of the field. The 14/1 shot did find for pressure, though, and it’s highly likely that the experience of being called on to challenge between runners in the straight will have educated him nicely for another crack at a maiden. The winner pulled two and a quarter lengths clear of the field, but Lombardi Trophy stuck to his guns well enough to be beaten another head and three-quarters of a length in fourth. He certainly has a chance of being useful on paper too, as a brother to two blacktype performers.