Eyecatching O'Brien debuts and Buick v Murphy at Kempton - Chris Cook's three things to note on Wednesday
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1. O'Brien to unleash interesting three-year-olds
It's that time of year when every Aidan O'Brien debutant three-year-old makes you raise an eyebrow and ponder the possibilities. He has three at Navan, as well as an interesting one having his second start. That would be Gooloogong (a son of Australia) who walked out of the stalls at Dundalk in November and did pretty well to finish only four lengths behind a more fancied stablemate, Bertinelli. He's the mount of Ryan Moore in a 1m2f maiden won last year by Stone Age, subsequently placed in a couple of US Grade 1s. Wayne Lordan is on King Leodegrance, an Irish Derby entrant and half-brother to Royal Lodge winner Mohawk.
Then at the end of the card comes a mile maiden in which O'Brien has had the beaten favourite in the last two runnings. Drumroll is a brother to Guineas winner Saxon Warrior but holds no entries beyond today. While he has Seamie Heffernan up, Moore is on Ballsbridge, the first foal out of Happily, who won two Group 1s as a juvenile and had high-achieving siblings like Gleneagles and Marvellous. Ballsbridge is entered in the Irish Guineas but wears blinkers here, which is perhaps something to worry about.
2. Murphy v Buick at Kempton – the first of many?
As we get close to the start of the new Flat season on turf, a bit of spice is added to tonight's Kempton card by the fact that William Buick and Oisin Murphy are riding against each other in four races as Buick returns to British action for the first time in a fortnight.
The two men are expected to fight it out for the champion jockey's title, Buick having finally won it last year while Murphy was suspended, and it's a rivalry likely to add tension and drama to our summer. Buick rides for four different trainers tonight, while Murphy has been booked by six others; the question of which man can muster more support will be a key factor in deciding where the crown goes.
3. Thomas string coming back to form
There were a couple of nice winners for Sam Thomas early in the year but his South Glamorgan yard was scoring just once or twice a month until March came along. Things are evidently ticking along a little more smoothly now, as they've had five winners from 15 runners in the past fortnight and every runner is worth a second look.
Thomas sends three to Market Rasen. Skytastic has another go over fences, having failed to get anywhere near his hurdles form when we saw him in November or January. Jubilee Express makes his handicap debut, having not been seen since early November. Katate Dori tries to win a bumper at the third attempt, having been collared close home on soft ground at Warwick on New Year's Eve.
Read these next:
Dettori's swansong and Murphy's redemption bid - the storylines to look out for this Flat season
'He was a special fella' - tributes paid to popular professional punter Johnny 'Lights' Hurndall
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