Acapulco Bay

(Aidan O’Brien)

Curragh, August 10th

Acapulco Bay certainly entered the conversation for eyecatcher of the season so far when runner-up in a seven-furlong Curragh maiden won by Al Riffa and Diego Velazquez in recent years. There was no stopping his Ballydoyle stablemate Delacroix in the 2024 running but it went down as a massive effort from the Dubawi colt to get within a length and three quarters of that rival while still appearing full of greenness. After a slow start, he ended up clocking the fastest sectional times for each of the last four furlongs and was the only runner in the field to see out the final two furlongs in less than 22 seconds (21.83 seconds). The first foal out of a sister to Magic Wand, his future looks extremely bright.

Greatest Drama

(Johnny Murtagh)

Curragh, August 10th

Johnny Murtagh isn’t renowned for first-time-out two-year-old winners, so the introductory effort of Greatest Drama in the same juvenile maiden at the Curragh can really be considered a bright showing. The daughter of Night Of Thunder showed some of her inexperience when taking a little time to enter the stalls, but came home very nicely and would have learned a fair deal from coming through runners. Barnane Stud’s homebred, part-owned by Owen Heffer, fared best of the fillies against the colts here and could well be up to winning one of these against her own sex if improving as expected.

Comanche Brave

(Donnacha O’Brien)

Curragh, August 10th

It ended up being a difficult enough task on debut with how the race unfolded for Comanche Brave in the six-furlong juvenile maiden on the same card, but he did show some talent in the process for Donnacha O’Brien. The Wootton Bassett colt, out of Jersey Stakes winner Ishvana, wasn’t the quickest away and looked set to be educated behind runners from that point onwards, but he ended up being brought right across from stall one to race down the outer. He had to do a bit of racing on his own, which can be a challenge for a newcomer, and he looked raw in the process. Still, nothing clocked a faster sectional than him in the third last and second last furlongs (10.62 seconds and 10.61 seconds back to back), and his effort petered out slightly close home. He should have improvement to come from this fourth-placed effort, beaten six and a quarter lengths.

Jaliyah

(Adrian Murray)

Curragh, August 10th

The seven-furlong ARC American Racing Channel Irish EBF Fillies Juvenile Race traditionally produces quality types, and the first two home last Saturday, Falling Snow and Ballet Slippers, are two exceptionally well bred types from outstanding Coolmore mares. They pulled five lengths clear of the remainder of the field, including the fourth-placed Jaliyah, who made a pleasing first start for Adrian Murray in the colours of Giselle De Aguiar. Easy enough to back at 25/1, the Mehmas filly out of an unraced Frankel half-sister to Group 1 Prix Morny winner Arcano was the only one to try to race forward with the first two home and might have paid a price for that, having been a towards the rear in the early stages before making a move. She weakened a little late but that could be forgivable due to her lack of experience - the winner had won a barrier trial previously and the second had finished third in a maiden at this venue. There are reasons to be optimistic about her going forward.

Ragmans Corner

(Ger Keane)

Ballinrobe, August 12th

After getting in as a reserve for a low-grade handicap hurdle over two miles and a furlong at Ballinrobe on Monday, Ragmans Corner was the subject of strong support and it very nearly paid off. An unexposed hurdler who had run a big race on the flat when fourth in the qualified riders’ maiden won by Shoda at Galway, he was travelling smartly approaching the final three flights in this weak contest but was badly impacted by a loose horse, who halted his momentum badly before two out.

To be fair, the winner, The Vegas Raider, did win a shade snugly at the line, but half a length was the margin of defeat for Ragmans Corner and he certainly lost more than that in the loose horse hassle he experienced.