Latest news with #GowranPark
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Proven course performer Deressa out to secure valuable prize in €200k Gowran Classic
Beware of bookies bearing gifts is normally sound advice, but not at Gowran Park's bank holiday Monday fixture where free entry to the track is being sponsored by the Irish National Professional Bookmakers Association. It coincides with a second running of the €200,000 Irish Stallion Farms Gowran Classic, the richest race of the year at the Co Kilkenny course. The winner will receive free entry into the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby later this month or into the Juddmonte Irish Oaks if a filly is successful. That proved the case a year ago as Fleur De Chine was successful for Jessica Harrington . The Moone trainer has two of the 11 runners lining up at Gowran Park this time for a race designed to try to boost opportunities for middle-distance bred horses in Ireland. Harrington's number one jockey Shane Foley has opted for Nancy J. READ MORE Top-rated is the Ballydoyle filly Heavens Gate, who landed a valuable sales race as well as a Group Three last year. However, she has failed to fire in a pair of starts this season and beat only two home in the French 1,000 Guineas. This trip of almost 10 furlongs could stretch her stamina. Joseph O'Brien has four shots, with And So To Bed the apparent first choice. But it is Deressa that could prove a solution. She has won twice already this season at Gowran to reach a rating of 93. Of all the runners, the filly bred by the late Aga Khan shapes perhaps as the one most open to progress. A stall one draw is no impediment to her chances either. The other bank holiday fixture is in Listowel, Co Kerry, where champion jumps jockey Paul Townend will fancy his chances of winning on both his mounts. La Note Verte is a course bumper winner from last year who goes in the opening hurdle, while Blood Destiny's rating makes him a standout in a later chase. In other news, Monday will also see an important latest forfeit stage for next weekend's Betfred Epsom Derby and it is set to see the unbeaten Aga Khan colt Midak supplemented into the 'Blue Riband' at a cost of £75,000 (about €89,000). Epsom's authorities have titled this year's Derby in honour of the late Aga Khan, who died in February. Shergar was the first of five Derby winners to carry his famous green silks. Midak won the Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud on his last start, after which his trainer Francis-Henri Graffard recommended a tilt at Epsom. 'He's unbeaten in three starts, we know he gets the trip, he's got the right kind of character to be able to handle Tattenham Corner and all the noise that comes with the Epsom Derby,' Zahra Aga Khan, daughter of the late Aga Khan, said. 'It's nice to have a runner this year because the race is being run in honour of my father, and [Midak's] done everything he should to be a valid runner in the Epsom Derby.' Another potential supplementary entry into the Derby from France is the Juddmonte-owned colt New Ground. Pour Moi, in 2011, was the last of 10 French-trained Epsom Derby winners.
Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Horse racing tips: Wednesday, May 7 – Chester, Gowran Park and Kempton
There are six meetings across the UK and Ireland on Wednesday, including the first day of three at Chester's Boodles May Festival, with seven races between 1.30 and 4.45pm. Gowran Park (4.50-8.20) and Kempton (5.28-9.00) also stage Flat fixtures, while there's jump racing from Newton Abbot (1.45-4.20), Kelso (2.25-5.05) and Fontwell (5.55-8.10). We've picked out four selections, two of them at Chester including our nap, plus one apiece from the cards at Gowran Park and on the all-weather at Kempton. Ron Wood's selections: Nap: Redorange (Chester, 2.05) @ 5/2 with Betfair Force And Valour (Chester, 3.40) @ 11/1 with Betfair Wegotogether (Gowran Park, 4.50) @ 12/1 with Betfair Wobwobwob (Kempton, 7.30) 6/1 with Betfair If you already have a Betfair account and are looking for a new bookmaker to use for this week's racing, check out more free bets from the best betting sites, reviewed by our experts. 2.05 Chester: Class 3 Handicap (5f) REDORANGE shaped well 12 days ago on his reappearance over the minimum trip at Sandown. One of three horses who disputed the early lead, he finished third and fared best of those who raced on the pace in a truly run race. That was a particularly creditable performance given he had been off the track for seven months, whereas the first two home had the benefit of a more recent outing. Redorange now switches to an easier five furlongs than Sandown's stiff straight track and, from stall two, is drawn to save ground around the tight Roodee circuit. The quick, drying ground is in his favour and the final plus point is that he's reunited with Rossa Ryan, who rode him in September at Yarmouth (6f, good to firm), when he recorded his only previous win. 3.40 Chester: Class 3 Handicap (6f) This is a competitive sprint handicap but FORCE AND VALOUR showed enough in Dubai earlier this year to be worth chancing on his return to England. He produced a career-best run from a tough draw in a 7f handicap at Meydan in February when finishing third against older rivals. He now drops back in trip against his own age group and, newly gelded, he may be capable of progressing more, even if he's drawn a little wider than is ideal in stall eight. 4.50 Gowran Park: Maiden (7f) Maiden races aren't always the best betting heats as the form is often not fully established. In this case the standard set is already fairly useful, but WEGOTOGETHER was such an eyecatcher on her recent debut that we have to flag her up. The filly's introduction came in a 6f maiden at The Curragh where, having started slowly, she finished well without being given an unduly hard ride. It might be that she's more of a handicap prospect, but she should come on for that outing and she gets an extra furlong today, so she should improve. It's just a case of whether she progresses enough for this to be the day for her. 7.30 Kempton: Handicap - (7f) WOBWOBWOB lacks a recent outing but he has run well when fresh and he may be ready to go today after he was a non-runner (on account of the ground) at Ripon three weeks ago. There is a question mark about the surface, Wobwobwob having had only three runs on the all-weather, the last two in Class 2 contests. This will be his first start in a Class 4 race on any surface since his win at Thirsk last May, which was in a 0-85 ratings bracket as opposed to this 0-80 race. However, he has won before for today's rider Cieren Fallon and from stall one he is drawn to save ground.
Irish Examiner
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Mataariki makes all to land Gowran Park spoils
Successful on this track on her debut last year, Mataariki made all to land the €30,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Handicap for Joseph O'Brien on a Gowran Park card given the go-ahead after a morning inspection. Sent off the 3-1 joint-favourite, the Cracksman filly dictated the pace under Dylan Browne McMonagle, poached a clear lead early in the straight, and kept on well to beat Marakesh by a length and a half. 'A couple of her runs last year have worked out well and she's learning the whole time,' stated O'Brien. 'We've experimented with different trips, but Dylan feels seven is a good trip for her. 'She enjoys juice in the ground and this race has been good for us (O'Brien has won four of the last five renewals). These super competitive fillies handicaps are very important. We'll try to find another one for her and we'll try for some black type again at some stage.' It was Donnacha O'Brien's turn to taste success in the one-mile fillies' maiden as Gavin Ryan partnered 3-1 favourite Dahlia Noir to a narrow victory over Lady Lilac. 'She was rated to win a maiden, so it's great to get the job done,' commented the trainer. 'She has loads of ability but keeps a bit for herself — Gavin said she idled when she hit the front. She should be better in a better race. And we'll try to find a handicap that suits her.' Irish 1,000 Guineas entry Varshini, ridden for Fozzy Stack by Seamus Heffernan, ran out a convincing winner of the seven-furlong Gowran Park Golf Club Maiden, beating the consistent Kilmood Susan. 'She had a good run last year, but had a few niggly hold-ups,' explained Stack. 'She probably needs a dig in the ground and I hope she comes forward from today. She's in the Irish Guineas, but that'll come a bit quick. We'll try to find a nice stakes race for her somewhere.' Successful on his seasonal debut at Naas for Mick Mulvany, Dance For Chester followed up on his first start for Stephen Thorne when justifying 11-10 favouritism in the Dining Packages At Gowran Park 3-Y-0 Handicap, providing Jack Kearney with another success at the County Kilkenny track. The Ribchester gelding travelled strongly into the lead before holding off the Mulvany-trained longshot James The Second by three-quarters of a length. Mulvany enjoyed a tonic in the following Thomastown Handicap when Dinamine opened his account, at the 35th attempt, earning the spoils, on the nod, over Serengeti Sunrise. 'I had him as a two-year-old and he was a goodish horse, but he went away and only came back a couple of months ago,' explained Mulvany. 'We found out a bit about him and it's great that he's won for his owner/breeder Seán Finnegan.' Despite a tardy start, Scott Key (100-30 favourite) bolted up by almost five lengths for the Slatterys in the Irish Injured Jockeys Handicap, his second venture into handicap company. Winning trainer Andy Slattery said: 'I was hoping he'd do that, to get him into the premier handicap in Naas on Monday (the Blackwater 3-Y-0 Handicap). 'He was very big as a two-year-old and green the last day in Cork, but he improved a lot. If he's okay, he'll go to Naas, with a 7lb mandatory penalty.' And Shane Foley gave Yvonne Latta's Spring Evening a well-judged front-running ride to win the finale, the @gowranpoark1 Handicap, dictating the pace and, ultimately, holding the late flourish of favourite Elle Dorado Rock by a half-length. The lightly-raced five-year-old should give the Latta team plenty of fun as a dual-purpose performer.
