Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Murtagh’s sprinkle of Magic
MEASURE Of Magic should make a bold bid to notch her second listed success of the season in the Goffs Polonia Stakes in Cork this evening.
A dual-winner as a juvenile, scoring at Tipperary and Down Royal, two speed tracks, Johnny Murtagh’s charge was also pipped in the Flying Childers at Doncaster.
Measure Of Magic tackled almost six furlongs in the recent Committed Stakes at Navan and, patiently handled by stablejockey Ben Coen, she came through to master Logo Hunter by three-quarters of a length, with 104-rated Lipizzaner back in third.
On today’s less demanding track, 102-rated Measure Of Magic, unpenalized, sets a decent standard and is expected to prove too strong for recent course winner Camdeboo.
The Showcasing colt Amalfi Coast has the dubious honour of being the only Ballydoyle two-year-old to be beaten this season.
Unlucky in running he finished fifth to Masseto in Navan, when sent off 13/8 favourite, and gets a good opportunity to make amends in the opening fivefurlong maiden.
And Jessica Harrington’s Real Appeal, up 8lb. for a recent win in
Leopardstown, will be tough to beat in the featured Mallow Handicap.
On Downpatrick’s jumps card, four-year-old Eyewitness, winner of a Naas bumper before finishing fourth to Dark Raven at Leopardstown, is napped to make a winning start over hurdles in the Irish Thoroughbred Agency Maiden Hurdle.
And Patrick Mullins should make the trip north worthwhile by landing the bumper on The Bandit, trained by his father, Willie.
This fellow flopped when odds-on for his debut at Thurles in February, a race won by stable-companion Cool Jet, but should prove more effective on today’s better ground.