'Flying start' - One owner, trainer and jockey to follow at Thurles on Saturday The top-drawer racing in Ireland will soon be upon us over the festive period, but before that we have a thoroughly competitive meeting to look forward to at Thurles on Saturday. There are eight races in total and the feature event is a Listed novice hurdle for mares. Picking out winners isn’t going to be an easy task so we’ve selected an owner, trainer and jockey who could be worth following across the card. Owner - Gigginstown House Stud The familiar maroon and white silks of Gigginstown will be represented with four runners at Thurles, two of whom will be running in the same race. Both hailing from the Willie Mullins yard, Paul Townend has picked Eliodam, who was last seen finishing down the field in a Fairyhouse bumper in April. He makes his first start over hurdles and we should see a significantly improved performance on this occasion. Irish point winner Drop A Threat won very impressively at Castletown-Geoghegan but struggled badly in a bumper at Fairyhouse on New Years’ Day. The six-year-old looked badly in need of the run when failing to get home over three miles on seasonal debut. Boedic produced a much more promising display on his debut in a valuable sales bumper in April and stayed on nicely to finish fourth. The winner of that race has boosted the form by winning over hurdles since and there should be loads more to come from Boedic. Gordon Elliott’s He Can’t Dance was a smart bumper horse last term, winning well at Navan before finishing third in a Grade at the Dublin Racing Festival. Finishing third in both starts over hurdles so far, he’s probably been a little disappointing but should be winning soon. Trainer - Joseph O’Brien Joseph O’Brien has just the two runners at Thurles on Saturday, but both are well worth considering and it wouldn’t be a surprise if at least one of them was to win. Zeus Power finished second on debut in a Galway bumper back in October and the winner has scored over hurdles since. He had no chance with an impressive winner in a maiden hurdle here recently, but should be one of the leading candidates this time around. The unraced Fastnet Crystal is out of a half-sister to a couple of winners, both of which stayed three miles. O’Brien has two winners from nine runners in Irish bumpers so far this season and this filly could add to that tally. Jockey - Darragh O’Keeffe Darragh O’Keeffe made a flying start to the season, but Jack Kennedy is beginning to catch up to him now. A lean spell for his regular boss Henry de Bromhead hasn’t helped, but he has several chances to extend the gap at Thurles. Maciver appears to have every chance in the Molony Cup Handicap Chase, especially as he came very close to winning over hurdles at Clonmel earlier this month. His chase mark is a little higher, but he won back-to-back races over fences in March and February. Salsinha won a Cork bumper by nine lengths on debut over the summer and wasn’t disgraced when fourth over hurdles at Navan last month. Connections think a lot of her, judging by the step up in grade, and she’s entitled to improve. De Bromhead’s Some Song finished well clear in a Down Royal maiden hurdle in October and a similar performance here would make him hard to beat. Recent yard form is a concern, but this gelding clearly has a decent engine.
