No need to be nervous about Goldflinch with Mullins on board

THE lightly raced Goldflinch can end a quiet spell of form for trainer Sabrina Harty by winning the amateur riders' handicap hurdle (5.25) at Clonmel today.

Harty, whose last winner was on the Flat at Curragh in July, has yet to open her account for the current jumping campaign, but Goldflinch provides strong grounds for optimism having stepped up on his modest maiden form when second on his handicap debut in a 2m4f contest at Fairyhouse earlier in the month.

The fact the Zagreb gelding is an eight-year-old who did not make his debut until the summer suggests he is a horse who may have had a few problems along the way. While this represents a source of concern, potential backers can take comfort from the fact Harty has often shown how she is capable of giving such types the patient, individual attention which brings out the best in them. She has booked the champion amateur Patrick Mullins for this assignment, a significant positive.