Course and distance winner eyes repeat victory in Oaks
ALREADY a listed-race winner over course and distance this season, Moll should take plenty of beating in the Group 3 Munster Oaks in Cork.
Bought by Team Valor having won a Dundalk maiden for Mark Cahill in January 2020, the Camelot filly has won two of her three starts for Paddy Twomey – including a Leopardstown handicap off just 76 a year ago.
Moll subsequently acquitted herself well when fourth to subsequent Irish Oaks heroine Even So in the Naas Oaks Trial, when she finished a neck behind one of today’s rivals, Silence Please.
The selection was off the course from July until reappearing in the listed Noblesse Stakes, over today’s course and distance at Easter.
Confidently handled by Billy Lee, she came through smoothly to see off Flor De la Luna, with two of today’s rivals behind – Haparanda (fourth) and subsequent Vintage Tipple winner Mighty Blue (sixth).
Twomey has been in no hurry with Moll. This looks an ideal next step for the daughter of Camelot and, with further improvement likely, she should be tough to beat. Mighty Blue, fourth in a Group at York last time, is the
3 highest-rated in the field and merits plenty of respect, along with Silence Please, although well beaten in a Group 2 in York on her seasonal debut.
Earlier, the Michael Brownetrained, 113-rated Logo Hunter should follow-up last month’s impressive Sole Power win at Naas in the listed Midsummer Sprint Stakes, the gelding’s target because he is not qualified to run in Royal Ascot’s Group 1 sprints next week.
This progressive three-year-old has come a log way since winning his maiden on Dundalk’s polytrack in March and has already shown a liking for the
Mallow track, having won a sprint handicap off 89 at the Easter meeting.
Logo Hunter then bumped into Johnny Murtagh’s Commonwealth Cup hope Measure Of Magic in a listed event at Navan before sparkling at Naas last time, dictating the pace, putting his rivals under pressure early and powering up the hill to beat Back To Brussels by four and a quarter lengths.
With regular partner Seamus Heffernan suspended, Billy Lee takes over on Logo Hunter today. And he’s a confident choice.