Gavin Cromwell
Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Irish Champions Festival preview
William Hill ambassador previews his runners from Leopardstown and the Curragh for Irish Champions Festival.
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Leopardstown, Saturday
We have two runners at Leopardstown on Irish Champions Festival, both of which are in the seven-furlong Listed race for two-year-old fillies (2.15pm).
Brownstown ran another big race in a Group 2 at the Curragh last time out and she was probably a bit unlucky not to have picked up some black type there. We’re happy with her since and I think she’s come forward again from that run.
She’s dropping down to Listed company here and I certainly wouldn’t rule her out of winning at this level. She’s a filly with good pedigree and size, so hopefully she’ll continue to improve and make a nice three-year-old.
Our other runner is Mighty Danu. She’s the less exposed of the two, but that means she’s also less experienced. She won on debut in Galway last month and she’ll have learned plenty from that run – it’s a tricky track to make your debut at. She put in a good performance and was staying on well at the line. I’d expect her to do similar on Saturday.
It’s hard to say how much she will improve from her first run, but she has size and scope and she looks the type to progress, so hopefully she will.
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Curragh, Sunday
We’re happy to get Joyful Tidings back out after he picked up a small setback earlier in the season. He runs in the six-and-a-half furlong two-year-old race at the Curragh on Sunday (2.05pm) and he looks ready to go. Whatever he does he’ll improve for it fitness-wise, but I’m still expecting him to run really well.
We’re hoping the rain doesn’t come because this trip could just stretch him on soft ground, but I think he’ll be fine on nice ground. We like him a lot, I’m expecting him to run well here and I think he’ll be a nice horse for next year.
We’re also hoping to run Snellen in the Group 2 Blandford Stakes (4.55pm). She’s more than likely to run, unless the ground came up very soft. The mile-and-a-quarter could stretch her if the ground went too soft because it’s definitely her maximum trip. Leopardstown looks very likely to be soft ground and Saturday, which is why we’ve declared her here instead of in the Solonoway.
She was runner-up in the Kensington Palace and then won a Group 3 at Leopardstown on her last start, so aiming for a Group 2 here is the obvious next step and I think she’s more than capable of being competitive.
