Gavin Cromwell
Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Listowel Harvest Festival Day One & Two preview
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his runners across the first two days of Listowel’s Harvest Festival.
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Sunday, Listowel
We have seven runners declared for the opening day of the Listowel Harvest Festival. In the opener, the two-mile three-year-old hurdle (2.28pm), we have Gforcejenny and Ranting and Raven.
Gforcejenny just didn’t jump well enough the last day and finished a little bit weak on her hurdles debut. Hopefully she’ll jump better here and if she does then she should see the race out a bit better.
Ranting and Raven jumps well at home but this is her first time over hurdles, so she might just need the run for a bit of experience. She stays well and all her Flat form is over extended trips. If she gets a clean round of jumping, then I would think she’s our best chance in the race.
We also have two runners in the 2m2f Mares Handicap Hurdle (3.28pm). Keith Donoghue takes the ride on Sophia Rose who won last time out but hasn’t been put up by the handicapper. It’s hard to know whether she’s actually well-handicapped, but hopefully she had a little bit in hand. Conditions should suit her fine.
Pampar Lady is going for a hat-trick and has a lot of weight to carry for a small mare, so we’ve got Eoin Staples claiming seven pounds on her. She’s up 13 pounds for her last two wins which doesn’t make life easy for her here, but she’ll be suited by the flat track and Eoin is great value for the seven pounds, so hopefully she can run well again.
Aspurofthemoment is probably our best chance of a winner on the day and he goes in the 2m1½f Novice Chase. He’s been consistent for us and has already won a Beginners’ Chase and a Handicap Chase. The trip could be on the sharp side for him, but the race conditions seem to suit. Keith gets on well with him and he shouldn’t be far away.
We also run Macinamillion. He won last time out and although it didn’t look a great race, he’s up seven pounds for that. We’ve got Eoin claiming the seven pounds back and hopefully that’ll help his chances. We also have him declared in the 1m6f Flat Handicap on Monday (5.25pm) and it’s unlikely he’ll take that up, but we’ve got him in there just in case.
The last of our seven on Sunday is Dutch Schultz in the 2m1½f Handicap Chase (4.58pm). He’s generally consistent and runs well without winning, which hasn’t helped him in the handicap. His mark is probably on the high side, but Eoin is claiming the seven pounds to give him every chance.
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Monday, Listowel
We run Smithfield in the one-mile handicap on Monday (2.02pm). He’ll be suited by the conditions and stepping back to a mile should be a positive for him. We tried him over as far as a mile-and-a-half and he just didn’t stay. He seems in good form so he should have a chance.
Then we have Flying Fortress in the 1m½f Handicap (3.12pm). He’s been running well without winning which means he’s not necessarily well-handicapped. He gets the weight allowance here for being a three-year-old and if things fall his way on the day he could run a good race.
In the 1m4f three-year-old handicap we have Secret Force. He’s come to us from Kevin Philippart De Foy having started his career with Charlie Appleby and he’s been going okay at home so far.
This’ll be his first run in a handicap, so it remains to be seen how much room he has in his opening mark of 70. He has plenty of size and scope, so hopefully he can be a progressive horse. He’s got a nice pedigree and some good form. I’m hoping he can be competitive off this mark.
McLoughlin is having his second run in the 1m4f Maiden (4.55pm). He should show plenty of improvement from his debut at Roscommon earlier this month. He was unbelievably green there and I’d actually expected him to run well that day. We’re going to put cheekpieces on him to help him concentrate and if they have the desired effect then he should be up to running a good race.
Macinamillion is declared in the 1m6½f Handicap (5.25pm) here. He may not run depending on how Sunday goes, but if he does then he looks like he could be on a winning Flat mark. It’s far lower than his Chase mark and the soft ground will certainly suit him. He should be very competitive here if he runs.
