DAILY RACING PREVIEW BY ANDY HOLDING
SUNDAY MAY 11
2.55 LEOPARDSTOWN
Diego Valazquez is undoubtedly the big headline act on his seasonal bow and if he runs up to his best form, he will surely take the world of beating at this sort of level.
On the flip side, he has been off the track for 239 days and if, as some of Aidan O’Brien’s horses can be first time out, a shade vulnerable off a break, KORTEZ BAY (best price 12-1) could easily be good enough to sneak under the radar and be the chief beneficiary of any rustiness shown by the favourite.
A massive eye-catcher with the way he travelled from a bad draw in the Irish Lincoln, Shiela Lavery’s gelding was understandably a warm order to back up the impression he created at the Kildare track at Tipperary last time out but a terrible start left him in a precarious position early on and it was a place from which he never truly recovered.
He did, however, make enough belated late headway to suggest he is worth another chance to build on his initial outing and a better stall exit this time around should see him leave his latest exploits well behind.
KORTEZ BAY – ½ point win@12-1
KORTEZ BAY – ½ point win@11-2 (without Diego Valazquez)
4.50 KILLARNEY
Just over the last few seasons, Willie Mullins has had the uncanny knack of running the right kind of horse in races of this nature and PAGGANE (best price 10-3) strikes as being another cab off the rank in this valuable summer prize.
The six-year-old mare maybe the most inexperience runner in today’s field but she undoubtably is the classiest and all of her four runs over fences so far to date she has defeated or been beaten by quality opposition.
Failing to get the better of the likes of Bioluminescence, Zenta and more recently, Fun Fun Fun at Perth casts no shame on her part and all her time figure in victory and defeat have been decent too.
Although she handles soft, winter ground well, she is definitely more effective on more kinder surface and having proven she goes well at today’s venue in the past (over hurdles), the daughter of Muhaarar looks set to continue her fine level of consistency.
PAGGANE – 1-point win@10-3
6.15 NEWCASTLE
Time may tell, FOUR FIFTY (best price 12-1) faced an impossible task off level weights with the likes of Teroomm and Parole D’oro at Thirsk last time out and having been handed what appears a reasonable mark to work with on handicap debut, Craig Lidster’s gelding should turn out to be a more potent force back at a track where he has already excelled.
Both the winner and the runner-up at the Yorkshire venue have been handed marks of 90 after fighting out a rousing finish and although a good way off a pair who are likely to be vying for honours at Royal Ascot in a month’s time, he was by no means disgraced.
His main two rivals posted an overall speed figure and backend sectionals that actually suggested they could easily be pattern class further down the line and the son of Ulysees, came out of the contest with numbers far from shabby in his own right.
Prior to that commendable effort 19 days ago, the twice-raced three-year-old had made a sparkling debut over today’s C&D, skipping nicely clear of subsequent winner Doubled Parked despite being poorly positioned on the far side of the track and even though stall 2 could present one or two issues on his return visit, he might just have the necessary qualities to overcome such an impost.
FOUR FIFTY – ½ point each-way@11-1