Dundalk Stadium is braced for its biggest raceday of the year on Sunday. Here are seven selections for the July 12 card.
14:00 – Eclairage
14:35 – Iff In Doubt
15:10 – Krasimir
15:45 – Rockbury Lad
16:20 – Porsche Lad
16:55 – Reynir (NAP)
17:30 – Tequila
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14:00 Ladies Day At Dundalk Handicap
Eclairage is quick, has a good record at Dundalk, winning four times from six runs. Has the box seat in stall one and will be racing in first-time headgear. Catch her if you can! Ipanema Queen won a Listed race here last October and is also very quick, although she is drawn wide in stall ten.
She comes into this on the back of a very good run at Royal Ascot and looks sure to be a contender today. On Ladies Day at the track, these fillies could dominate the opener.
14:35 3YO Handicap
I’ll shortlist Gonna Be Golden, Kc Bear and Iff In Doubt. Gonna Be Golden came back to form last time over five furlongs wearing a first-time tongue-tie and will now return to the track and trip over which she won her maiden.
A good 5lb claimer has been booked to ride, and she is well drawn. Kc Bear has been a model of consistency of late and can keep that going by running well under Colin Keane, who could be set for a very good day, and Iff In Doubt won here in February and has put in two solid runs since then, here and at the Curragh. It’s a close call, but I’ll side with Iff In Doubt.
15:10 3yo Maiden
Krasimir is the highest-rated of the runners to have been allocated a rating and hails from the in-form stable of Ger Lyons with Colin Keane taking the ride. He’s an obvious contender and gets the nod.
15:45 Handicap
Rockbury Lad – Trained by Michael O’Callaghan, he wins in his turn here and looks to be on a reasonable mark of 59, having won over c/d last year off 65. With Colin Keane in the saddle, a good run looks on the cards.
16:20 Apprentice Handicap
With a seven-pound claimer booked, Porsche Lad can give you a run for your money. His last three runs over c/d have all been solid from slightly higher marks.
16:55 Maiden
Reynir – Trained by Johnny Murtagh, he has shown promise on all three starts so far and arrives here rated 85 and will be running for the first time since a gelding op. He looks the one to beat. Donnacha O’Brien’s Police Gazette could improve for the application of blinkers, but will need to, whilst Let’s Smash
It showed plenty of promise when second on his debut here 219 days ago, and Willie McCreery’s newcomer, Matties Point, cost just 15,000gns as a yearling but is a half-brother to a horse that won three times from just five runs and was narrowly beaten on his debut. Also, his dam won eight races, including on her debut, with six of those wins coming on all-weather surfaces.
17:30 Fillies Maiden
Joseph O’Brien’s Duvessa hasn’t looked the quickest so far so the drop to today’s trip is interesting, and Paddy Twomey’s Forthill has some good runs to his name but has never encountered anything other than soft going. Of course, the switch to an all-weather surface could well help.
However, Tequila would come into the reckoning based on her best runs in England and she will now be having her first run in Ireland for Robson de Aguiar, who has a good record at Dundalk over the last 18 months or so. She has an absence to overcome, but a market move for her would be interesting. I’ll take a chance on her.
Dundalk July 12 Selections
14:00 – Eclairage
14:35 – Iff In Doubt
15:10 – Krasimir
15:45 – Rockbury Lad
16:20 – Porsche Lad
16:55 – Reynir (NAP)
17:30 – Tequila
