Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Enter can keep us out of the Red
ANOTHER quiet weekend but I’m hoping Enter The Red might be capable of finishing in the money in the valuable Joe Mcgrath Handicap in Naas tomorrow.
I have a day off, with no flat racing, today, three rides in Naas tomorrow and then a two-day ‘holiday’, thanks to the Stewards in Listowel.
I won’t be back in the saddle until Dundalk on Friday. So I’ll have time to look for a few future stars in Goffs during the week.
But back to tomorrow, when I ride a couple of two-year-olds for the boss (Kevin Prendergast) in Naas and in the big five-furlong handicap.
Enter The Red is a grand old horse and has been a good servant for his trainer Aidan Howard.
I’ve ridden him five times this year and only been out of the first two once, when he finished seventh to St Brelades Bay.
And, last time, he was too keen for Danny Sheehy and faded to finish 12th behind Ice Age in the Bold Lad at the Curragh on Champions Weekend.
He’s currently running off a career-high mark. His last six runs have been at the Curragh, including a win for me on Derby weekend.
He’s running off bottom-weight tomorrow. He’ll handle the ground and, with a bit of luck, might be in the shake-up.
We run a nice filly, by Most Improved, in tomorrow’s opener, a seven-furlong maiden for unraced two-year-olds.
This filly goes nicely and has shown the right signs at home. She’s ready to start and I’m expecting a good show from her.
My other ride, in the two-year-old auction race, is returning after a break.
She showed plenty in the spring and was sent off favourite for her debut in Dundalk in late March.
She had been working well on slow ground, but didn’t handle the Dundalk surface and was very disappointing.
We gave her a break before building her up for this return to action. She’s been doing things well and we’re hoping for a better effort from her. But it looks a tough race.
We were delighted with Moghamarah’s impressive win in Gowran Park last Saturday.
She’s a filly we always liked and had done nothing wrong in her first two starts – she was unlucky when badly drawn in Galway. But she showed in Gowran what she’s capable of and won really well.
She’ll be a nice filly next spring and, depending on how she fares in trials she could go for Guineas.