Winning is name of the Game
PROLIFIC winner Easy Game might repeat last year’s win in the John J Galvin Chase on the final day of Listowel’s weekend meeting.
The Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old, a 14-time winner over fences, has been beaten only once in his last eight starts when finishing in mid-division behind Hewick in last year’s Galway Plate.
He bounced back to beat Grade 1-winning stablecompanion Kemboy here in September and followed-up in a Grade 2 at Gowran
Park in October, again beating Kemboy.
Easy Game wasn’t seen again until Fairyhouse at Easter, when he was destined for the runner-up berth, well behind odds-on stablemate Jandil when the rival crashed at the last leaving the selection to score by 81 lengths.
Today, Easy Game must concede weight to Gavin Cromwell’s classy mare Jeremys Flame, successful recently in Limerick, and the Henry de Bromheadtrained Dancing On My Own, winner of a two-mile handicap in Aintree last time. But he should be up to the task.
Earlier, 120-rated, Tom Mullins-trained Morning Soldier, favourite when third to Custom Of The Sea in Killarney, sets a decent standard in the John B Keane Maiden Hurdle.
We also have Bank Holiday flat action in Gowran Park where Treasured Soul, an eye-catching fifth to Winston Spencer at Leopardstown, might prove another winner for in-form Gary Carroll, in cracking form in Listowel over the weekend (five winners) and deputising here for suspended championjockey Colin Keane.
And most interesting runner on the card is newcomer Knight To King, a son of Kingman and Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Nightime, and half-brother to Ghaiyyath, in the King Of Ossory Maiden. He won’t have to be a star to make a successful start to his career.