'We think he has come forward' - could there be another Capri lurking in the maiden at Galway?
Future Classic winners have a habit of showing up at Galway and back in 2016 subsequent Irish Derby and St Leger winner Capri opened his account in the BoyleSports Casino Irish EBF Maiden (3.05).
The form of that maiden worked out spectacularly well as not only did Capri go on to land a pair of Classics, but the runner-up Rekindling famously won the Melbourne Cup the following year.
Broome was another notable winner of this mile maiden for Aidan O'Brien in 2018 and the master of Ballydoyle has won it 12 times this century and 14 times in all. On this occasion he relies on Navy Seal, who was fifth on his debut at Killarney.
O'Brien said of the Dubawi colt: "He had a lovely run the first day out at Killarney. He just found that test a bit sharp and he was a little bit green. We think a mile with a bit of ease in the ground at Galway will suit him. We think he's come forward from his first run too."
It is worth pointing out that Navy Seal has an entry in the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh next month, as well as the Group 2 Futurity Stakes before that. The biggest danger to Navy Seal could come from O'Brien's son Joseph, who runs the newcomer Bad Desire.
There are just four runners in the Grá Chocolates Irish EBF Nursery Handicap (4.15) and two of those are running from out of the handicap so it looks a straight shootout between Portland and Jakajaro.
Portland was sent off joint-favourite to make a winning debut at the Curragh, but could only manage third and he was fourth of five at Tipperary last time when a 6-5 shot. O'Brien admitted he has expected more of the Dubawi colt and hopes a first handicap off a mark of 90 will be within his compass.
He said: "He's in good form, but we have been a bit disappointed with him in his two runs. We're just hoping that he's a slow learner and will start to come to hand with experience."
Portland will need to show more than he has done so far against Jakajaro, the runaway winner of a Curragh nursery last time. He has gone up 12lb for that success, but such was the authority with which he scored it might not be enough to prevent his following up.
Willie Mullins has won the opening BoyleSports Download Our App Maiden Hurdle (1.55) twice in the last three years and is triple-handed this time with Paul Townend opting to ride jumping newcomer Ninth Titan in preference to Rath Gaul Boy and Olympic Man.
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