QUEST IS NOT RUN OF THE MILL
Elliott star has the quality for win
IRISH RACING
This hugely popular meeting and the last major festival before the winter has been kind to Gordon Elliott in recent seasons and in Mill Quest he has the answer to the day’s feature.
The much improved eight-year-old takes her chance off a light weight in the valuable Kerry Group Handicap Chase and there is much to like about her chances.
Already this season she has notched up three victories over hurdles and she also struck over fences at Tramore last month.
She is now a stone higher in the weights for that Tramore win, which is a concern, and she was also beaten in her bid for a quick follow up at Kilbeggan last time.
However, she may just have found that the extended three miles was beyond her at Kilbeggan and a return to this shorter trip should suit her very well.
Elliott will also be fancied to land the opening juvenile hurdle where he saddles two likely candidates.
Smiling Eliza won for the trainer at Down Royal last week while Chief Justice is an interesting recruit having recently struck over hurdles in England for Richard Fahey.
Even so the vote falls to Edward O’grady’s Parisian who won the first juvenile hurdle of the Irish season at Roscommon early last month.
This English import turned in a nice effort that day and the form of that race gives him a clear edge over Smiling Eliza.
Willie Mullins has done very well at this meeting in the past and he looks set to kick off the week with a treble.
In the conditions hurdle the champion trainer looks to have found yet another excellent opportunity for the admirable Wicklow Brave.
The former Irish St Leger hero has won three times on the flat this summer and struck at odds of 1/25 at Killarney recently.
For his return to jumping the former Grade 1 winner has been found an especially easy opening and it will be a huge shock if he meets with defeat.
The trainer is also tipped to land the bumper with the newcomer Scaglietti who shares her sire with Wicklow Brave and is a half-sister to the Mullins-trained Ebor winner Sesenta.
Camelia De Cotte can bring up the hat-trick in the mares chase as she looks to build on last month’s Roscommon triumph.
In the three mile maiden hurdle Macgiloney makes plenty of appeal as he returns to a trip that should suit him well.
His last run at Killarney came over a distance well short of his best and prior to that he ran quite well.