LAST summer, three-year-old runners were thin on the ground in the best handicaps around a mile such as the Galway Mile and the Cambridgeshire, that type of horse not around and impacting the overall field sizes of those races.

Things look more positive in that regard this year if last week’s Nasrullah Handicap at Leopardstown is anything to go by.

After drawing just one three-year-old in 2025, the race had three this year, including the winner and third, and the form looks strong despite a steady pace, the three placed horses all of interest as they came from behind.

The winner Thread Of Gold stepped up on his seasonal return at Listowel despite being weak in the betting, coming from rear with a sweeping run down the outer.

He is very unexposed after four starts and his rider Wayne Lordan emphasised how ‘babyish’ he was afterwards, so there should be improvement to come for experience. Given his trainer and pedigree, he may improve for a longer trip.

Diego El Queso was an unlucky second, also coming from rear and travelling well, unable to get a run and still on the bridle until just over a furlong out before finishing strongly. He has come a long way since last season when something of an anti-hero, beaten at 6/4 or shorter in-running on five occasions, but looks more resolute now.

Returning from nearly three months off, he may have found this ground fast enough and the Galway Mile could suit, for all Ger Lyons has little interest in that meeting.

On a hot evening, the third Jamestown appeared to have gotten warm, and it impacted his performance a little as he raced keenly, caught wide with no cover. Despite that, he got to the lead in the straight sooner than ideal, before being worn down close home. He would have preferred a more strongly run race.

Duckadilly shows class

The other feature on that Leopardstown card was the Brownstown Stakes which was a weak running. Despite a small field, it was well-run which suited the winner Duckadilly who is not a natural seven-furlong type but her class got her through as the only runner rated higher than 100.

Phenomenal Filly didn’t get the breaks in second, Billy Lee having to barge his way through down the inner, and she might have won another day though is unlikely to get an easier opportunity in a group race than this.

In third was Nancy J, rated just 83 going into the race, who stepped up on a promising effort over Derby Weekend to get blacktype, but it came at a cost as she received a 12lbs hike as a result.

This is an old dilemma for connections as they are faced with a choice of winning a good handicap or boosting the breeding value of a filly, and this felt like a case of fraudulent blacktype.

Exciting type

Elsewhere on the card, Ger Lyons had a double, the winner of the opening juvenile maiden for fillies, Maire Rua, looking an exciting type. This was the trainer’s first two-year-old to win on debut in 2026, which is unusual for the yard, but they have been taking a run much more this year.

Taking his runners in 2026, Lyons has a first time out strike-rate of 8.5% at the time of writing, but that leaps to a combined 29.9% on their second and third starts.

There should be improvement to come on that count, while Maire Rua also showed up well on the clock too, posting a decent overall time and fast backend sectionals amidst greenness, while the fifth Voice Of You was also fast in the closing stages and caught the eye.

The other Lyons winner was Watch Tower who did it the hard way, pressing a strong pace from early and holding on from the two placed horses that came from behind, the race set up for them to run well.

Watch Tower went up 8lb for that win and should be able to follow up off his new mark, though the result left a sour taste as viewers heard beforehand and afterwards that he had pulled a shoe or two on his previous start at Limerick.

That information, central to solving this punting puzzle, had not been made public via the IHRB post-race reports.

The IHRB have a good interface for this on their website, but it is only as good as the information therein, and both trainers and authorities should do better in getting these facts out there.

Galway on the horizon

WE are in the Galway window just now, and it is the ideal time for a prep run for the sort of horse that make up much of the programme there, mid-grade flat horses that typically do best kept busy.

A couple of runners from Leopardstown last week have the potential to pop up at Ballybrit at prices, especially as they have previous course form.

Mighty Danu won an auction maiden at the track on debut last season and has been lightly raced since, shaping a lot better than her eighth-place finish behind Watch Tower when returning from a break.

Having raced in rear, she was coming off the bridle turning in but seemed to have more to give before repeatedly meeting small bits of traffic, unable to open up before keeping on late.

That race was over seven furlongs but the extended mile at Galway with ease in the ground might suit better.

Eddie G went close at the 2024 festival as a three-year-old, backing that run up with another second at the September meeting. 2025 was a write-off for him as he only had two starts, but he looked on the way back when third at Fairyhouse last month, the two that beat him winning since.

He finished down the field at Leopardstown last week, but the ground was on the fast side, and he could never get in from a wide draw, racing keenly as a result, his rider accepting defeat early in the straight. He is better than this.

Magee feat deserves applause

AS a Monaghan person, praising Cavan achievements does not sit comfortably, but one cannot let Patrick Magee’s terrific four-timer on Saturday pass without comment.

Winning with multiple horses on the same day is the preserve of big yards these days, and it is hard to recall a trainer of Magee’s size managing a feat like this in recent years, Eoin McCarthy’s success at Listowel last September the only one that comes close.

The winners may have come at a run-of-the-mill level, but it could be argued that that made it even tougher as those races are so competitive, while Magee has only had 14 individual runners in the 2026 flat season.

Throughout his career, he has had just three horses rated 80 or higher on the flat, stable star Rosie Frith his best, rated 94 at her peak.

His four winners had diverse profiles. Shesthedevil was bought for just €3,500 and landed a big field auction maiden for juveniles while Admiral Will Brown was having his first start for the stable.

Stable stalwart Arch Enemy was returning from a 105-day break and had to put up a big performance to come clear with a well-treated sort while Glen Breeze has held his form after a busy period to win, his Limerick run his ninth outing since March.

Shercock is a long way from the racing heartlands, literally and figuratively, but it is good to see yards doing well in non-traditional places.