7.45 Dundalk: the one race you need to watch in Ireland on Friday

Floodlit Friday Nights Handicap | 1m | 3yo+ | RTV

Why is it interesting?

Six course-and-distance winners will line up for this €25,000 pot, including last year's winner, the Jim Bolger-trained Theobald.

The weights are headed by the Jessica Harrington-trained Marshall Jennings, a four-time winner on turf who was beaten just under a length in the Listed Carlingford Stakes here two seasons ago on his only previous run at the track.

Along with Theobald, the other course-and-distance winners are Harriet's Force, Trading Point, Katiymann, Kafu and Massa Lubrense, while Highly Approved and Peshkova have won at the track.

Damian English has had a memorable few weeks at Dundalk largely down to his sand-loving Geological and the local trainer will be hoping Trading Point can go well off a career-high mark of 92.

What do the stats say?

None of the trainers involved has enjoyed a better run over the past fortnight than Michael Halford, who runs Katiymann.

One of the best operators at the track, with well over 100 winners, Halford has sent out three winners from 14 runners in the past two weeks for a level-stakes profit of €9.91.

What do the trainers say?

Tim Doyle, trainer of Spanish Tenor
He won well at Limerick but things didn't work out for him at Leopardstown, where he was a bit keen. He's in good order and has run well up there before. We're more hopeful than confident.

Keith Clarke, trainer of Harriet's Force
She loves coming from behind in her pieces of work, so we're going to try to ride her with a bit more patience. I've had a complicated year with her, with lung infections, and she's only coming back to herself now. I think she's up to getting black type next year.

Damian English, trainer of Trading Point
He's racing off his highest-ever mark but he's in serious order. It was his first run on the all-weather when he won over the course and distance last time, so he obviously likes the place. We have high hopes for him. He showed glimpses of that sort of form all summer and we got no run of consistency out of him, so we're hoping he's put down a benchmark and that we can get a bit more consistency from him throughout the winter.

Michael Halford, trainer of Katiymann
He likes it around Dundalk and has a decent draw, which is a plus. Things didn't really work out for him last time there – it was a funny race. On his day he's well capable of being competitive in a race of this nature. He's working well and is in good form.

Ado McGuinness, trainer of Sirjack Thomas and Highly Approved
Sirjack Thomas ran a great race on his first start on the surface a few weeks back and he's been in great form at home since. We're expecting a big run from him. We've got good draws with him and Highly Approved and I'm expecting the two of them to run very well even though it's a competitive race. Highly Approved hasn't run in a while but she's in good form at home as well.

What do our tipsters say?

He likes this surface and is down in grade so Marshall Jennings could be the answer under Tom Madden. This is an open contest, with Katiymann highly respected.
Johnny Ward

Read The Lowdown from 8.30am daily on racingpost.com and the Racing Post app for all the day's going updates, news and tips