Joseph O'Brien filly takes the eye in midweek treat for Flat fans
Irish Stallion Farms EBF Median Auction Race | 7f | RTV
It may be December but there are some promising two-year-olds lining up for this €18,500 median auction race.
Of the four previous winners, three – Hale Bopp, Let Me Pass and Messidor – were successful on this surface, with Ken Condon's new recruit Allez Barza a winner in his native France.
Allez Barza won a 7f maiden when trained by Andre Fabre and was not disgraced when upped to Listed company on his final start in France.
In all four of his runs, soft has appeared in the going description and, while he has yet to tackle the all-weather, his pedigree suggests he will be fine on the surface.
Michael Halford is usually the go-to man at Dundalk and, in the 92-rated Let Me Pass, winner of a mile maiden here three weeks ago, he has a solid challenger.
Let Me Pass showed good form on the turf before appreciating the surface on his all-weather debut and he sets a decent standard for the others to aim at. Halford also runs the newcomer Stellar Spirit.
The Ger Lyons-trained Hale Bopp is also interesting, with crack claimer Sam Ewing taking over from champion jockey Colin Keane on the recent course-and-distance maiden winner.
The filly Messidor is possibly the most interesting runner. Very much the pick of Joseph O'Brien's three runners, she was extremely impressive in winning her maiden over the course and distance two weeks ago and could be open to most improvement.
What they say
Ken Condon, trainer of Allez Barza
I haven't had him that long but he moves well and we’re looking forward to getting him started. It’s a good race.
Michael Halford, trainer of Let Me Pass and Stellar Spirit
Let Me Pass has been in great form since his win. He loved the surface that day so we’re very happy going back there with him. It looks a good race. I’m happy with him and he has a good rating going into a race like this. Stellar Spirit is a grand big horse with plenty of scope. We like him and are looking forward to getting him started.
Joseph O'Brien, trainer of First Blood, Giustino and Messidor
Messidor won nicely at Dundalk recently and she looks to have every chance of following up but it's a competitive race. First Blood will hopefully run well first time out while Giustino has been a bit green d so far and we’re just hoping he can pick up some prize-money.
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Published on 1 December 2020inPreviews
Last updated 15:23, 1 December 2020
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