Gavin Cromwell
Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Listowel Harvest Festival Day Four & Five Preview
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his runners on day four and five of Listowel’s Harvest Festival.
Wednesday, Listowel
We start off Wednesday with three runners in the two-mile maiden hurdle (13:55). Bud Fox was a nice prospect in bumpers at the beginning of last season but he’s been disappointing since. His run in Kilbeggan the last day was a bit of an improvement and he seemed to do more right.
I think he should step forward from that and hopefully he can run a good race here.
Messire Des Bordes & Thepoetslodge are both huge outsiders. They look out of their depth here and will be horses for handicaps down the line.
Then we have Deep Warrior on handicap debut in the 2m2½f hurdle (15:05). He might just find his first run in a handicap on good ground to be a shock to the system. He’ll be a better horse when the ground eases up over the winter so this might not be his day, but hopefully he can run a decent enough race.
We have two runners in this year’s Kerry National (16:15). Will The Wise was running off a career-high mark in the Galway Plate and he ran very well to a point, then just weakened up the hill. That was a week when a lot of our horses ran poorly and there seemed to be a bit of a cloud over the yard, so hopefully we can put that behind us.
His work has been good at home and he seems in good form. Conditions should suit here and I don’t think three miles is a problem for him on a flat track like Listowel on good ground. He has a good amount of pace and he’ll need it to be competitive here. Hopefully he can run a big race.
Perceval Legallois isn’t the horse he used to be and he may have been flattered by his second-place finish in the Midlands National in Kilbeggan, where the pace collapsed and he stayed on past a few tired horses.
That said, he is a classy horse on his day and, who knows, he could pop up with a big run here.
Thursday, Listowel
Lennon Grove is our first runner on Thursday in the mares maiden hurdle (13:57). I’m looking forward to getting her started this season. She’s been training well and she is a nice mare, so hopefully this is going to be the start of a good season for her.
In the two-mile Listed hurdle (15:07) we run Ole Ole. He had a run in the charity race at the Curragh and ran well, so it was a good pipe opener for him.
This race looks an open and competitive one. Conditions should suit him, although he would probably like a little more juice in the ground. We’ve had this in mind for a while and I’m hopeful he’ll run a big race.
Reiki Revolution goes in the two-and-a-half-mile handicap hurdle (16:17). He tends to jump out to his left and his best form is on left-handed tracks. He’s a tricky horse to put your finger on and it’s a bit of a case of just keeping our fingers crossed. He’s been working well at home though, so hopefully he can run well here.
