Cercene
(Joe Murphy)
Gowran Park, July 27th
Cercene made an eye-catching debut in the fillies’ maiden over seven furlongs, where she had 13 rivals in front of her turning for home. The daughter of Australia still had plenty to do approaching the final furlong, but flew home to finish third, beaten a length and three- quarters. The Willie McCreery-trained Fairhaven was another one to note, having had a luckless passage back in fifth on her third career start. (AL)
Darkdeserthighway
(Michael O’Callaghan)
Gowran Park, July 27th
This six-year-old mare’s sole turf win came over six furlongs, but she did her best work late-on in the Gowran Park Handicap over a mile. Drawn three, Seamie Heffernan kept her on fresher ground away from the rail and pulled wide to challenge in the straight. She finished strongly in the closing stages to finish fourth, beaten a length by an 81-rated four-year-old. She was left unchanged on a rating of 69, so looks likely to gain career win number four soon (twice an all-weather winner). (AL)
Admiral Churchill
(Paddy Twomey)
Galway, July 29th
Rock Of Cashel showed major improvement from his debut effort to land the first two-year-old maiden of the week at the Galway Festival, and the runner-up Admiral Churchill likely won’t have to progress much to get off the mark. Paddy Twomey’s 3/1 shot appreciated the switch to easier ground from his debut sixth at the Curragh and had all rivals covered bar the ready winner. By Kodiac, he isn’t short of pace and joined this team for €200,000 at the breeze-ups. He could be set for a decent autumn. (MB)
Himalayan Heights
(Ger Lyons)
Galway, July 29th
The well-handicapped Kentucky Gal wasn’t to be denied in what looked a deep mile-and-a-half handicap for three-year-olds, but the race has the shape of one that could work out positively. The third-placed Himalayan Heights traded as low as 1.81 in the in-running markets but perhaps ended up there to be shot at in the straight with how the race unfolded, and he only gave way in the final 50 yards when beaten a neck and half length. A 2lb rise to 87 still leaves him on a reasonable mark and his maiden form has worked out quite well.(MB)
High Court Cave
(Noel Kelly)
Galway, July 29th
There should be races to be won with Noel Kelly’s High Court Cave, who ran a solid race in the circumstances to finish fourth in the concluding four-year-old bumper at Galway on Monday. A point-to-point winner for the stable at the third attempt in May, he could well have been brought down approaching the final half mile when a runner came across in front of him and impeded him. After recovering and getting closer to the pace, he couldn’t quite match the well-backed winner in the closing stages but was still only beaten six and a half lengths. There was promise to be taken from this. (MB)
Eagles Dream
(John Murphy)
Galway, July 30th
It will be fascinating to see how Eagles Dream fares on her next start as there was a promising step in the right direction from the John Murphy-trained juvenile when a well-held third in a traditional hot fillies’ maiden over seven furlongs on Tuesday. Nothing got involved from off the pace, where Eagles Dream was positioned, and she made encouraging headway without being able to land a telling blow in fourth. Another similar effort could make her very interesting in a nursery later in the campaign, obviously depending on how the handicapper assesses her after that run, and she looks to be going the right way. (MB)
Costanuci
(John Queally)
Galway, July 31st
Costanuci looked to be going nowhere for a fair deal of the journey in the extended-two-mile-six-furlong handicap hurdle won by Talk In The Park on Thursday, so it can be considered a strong showing from her to get up for third in the 20-runner affair. An early mistake contributed to her getting somewhat detached from an already spread out field, and this effort indicated she could still be up to winning off this career-high mark of 115 when getting a smoother set of circumstances. She’s also lightly raced over fences and ran on strongly here. (MB)
San Aer
(Tom Mullins)
Galway, August 1st
Grey Leader and Genuine Article essentially raced first and second throughout in the extended-mile handicap on Thursday, and filled those positions come the death. Having sat right towards the rear of the field, it can be marked up as a positive effort from San Aer to finish fifth from stall 15, keeping on without ever having a real chance to make inroads on the main protagonists. He likes this place and would have been much more involved had the pace been more honest up front and is worth keeping in mind for similar events over the next while. (MB)