Fran Berry has three more eyecatchers from the recent action in Ireland, including an expensively-bought filly who may be bound for Royal Ascot.
Odds in our favour next time out
Listowel's Flat card last Sunday featured several notable performances on what was a relatively quiet week Flat-wise in Ireland. I've got three worth noting from the County Kerry track, starting with Wizard Of Odds from the opening two-year-old maiden.
Elzme set a really good standard on his previous form and duly justified favouritism but Charles O'Brien's horse in fifth is worthy of note. A son first-season sire Arizona, he was fifth to Cowardofthecounty from a prominent position on debut at the Curragh in April and definitely emerges as a potential future winner after this effort.
He was sluggish away and showed greenness towards the rear, which isn't always a great place to be on this sharp circuit, and only inside the final 50 yards or so he was getting organised. He really powered out of the line, if you led the video replay roll on.
Given the way he seems to be progressing from his first effort to his second, Wizard Of Odds should be capable of going very close in a maiden next time, or a handicap a little further down the line if things don't quite pan out for him again at the third time of asking.
Potential Royal runner for Joseph O'Brien
The Pat Smullen Race over a mile produced what looked quite an impressive winner in Aidan O'Brien's The Liffey, who was on the sharp end throughout and won readily.
However, it was the performance of Joseph O'Brien's filly Without Words who really caught the eye in second. This French recruit was a winner on her second start at Toulouse last October, beating a subsequent winner in Lina, after which she was bought for €450,000.
Pre-race, Without Words looked like she'd improve quite a bit for the seasonal debut and in the race she was towards the rear for much of it before staying on strongly inside the final furlong and a half.
She hit the line well and while the winner was gone beyond recall, she came clear of the third. Her finishing speed percentage was 110% and her final furlong time was just 11.22 seconds.
When you add everything together - this performance on top of it being her seasonal comeback and the way she looked in the paddock - it amounts to a really promising start to her time in Ireland.
Winner The Liffey is quite unexposed and it's interesting to see the Irish handicapper has allotted Without Words a rating of 92, which may give connections the option of aiming her at Royal Ascot. She could slot into the Sandringham Stakes based on ratings from the race last summer.
Lad unlucky not to emerge on top
The final one of the trio to follow came in the two-mile handicap, runner-up Killeemore Lad.
This was an ultra-competitive stayers' handicap with a lot of potential improvers taking part. The winner was well backed to strike following a recent effort over hurdles and while that was a very good performance, I thought the second was the most notable with a view to the near future.
A dual hurdle winner last summer and just beaten at the Punchestown Festival early last month off a mark of 113 in a 24-runner handicap, he switched back to the Flat at Listowel and after a somewhat sluggish start, found himself three-quarters of the way back towards the inside.
Whereas the winner gained many lengths down the back straight, Killeemore Lad got stuck behind traffic and then had to come wide to get a clear run turning into the straight.
He stayed on strongly inside the last and given the way in which the race developed, from where he started in a slow-run contest, his performance can definitely be upgraded and he's only been raised 2lb in the ratings to a mark of 69.
Whether he goes back over hurdles or stays on the Flat, connection may be looking to go for a mid-tier handicap at the Galway Festival this summer.
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