TIPPERARY’S National Hunt card played host to a trio of Grade 3 races on Sunday with Saldier adding the Horse & Jockey Hotel Hurdle to his Galway Hurdle while Gin On Lime returned to winning ways in the feature chase.
The most notable performance of the two was by some manner the all-the-way victory of Gin On Lime (143+). Henry de Bromhead’s mare was beaten by Fan De Blues (131) at Galway in July but turned the form around in no uncertain terms and handed Robbie Power a comeback victory into the bargain as she posted a time figure worthy of a higher grade.
To endorse the overall time against the standard, the split-screen view against the other chase on the card won by She Tops The Lot (105) shows the pace that the five-year-old displayed and maintained.
Taking a view from the earliest fence at which the races joined, Gin On Lime matched front-running Convara before sustaining the gallop to reach the finishing line fully 12.8 seconds in front of her stablemate in the comparison race.
In my opinion the difference in performance is as simple as a return to going back left-handed which has yielded three wins from three runs over fences.
In behind the winner, Fan De Blues matched his best performance on my figures and it is likely Busselton found this extreme test coming too soon after his Listowel victory.
Saldier (122) performed below his achievement at Galway on the clock but was impressive all the same in beating Darasso (120) and Jason The Militant (120+).
Impressive Mountain
The pick of the overall race times over two miles was Purple Mountain (117) who took full advantage of the final hurdle fall of San Salvador, although Willie Mullins’s mare may have prevailed anyway as she was closing quickly.
A comparison of the closing sectionals between the two graded races shows Saldier to have the edge as he clocked 74.5 seconds compared to the mare’s 75.8 seconds.
Considering the grade of races, the performance of the front-running Brides Hill (120+) in the handicap is noteworthy as she matched the overall time achieved recorded by Saldier and also surpassed the finish effort of Purple Mountain in stopping the clock at 75.3 seconds.
Hallowed Star (115) (76.4 seconds) was slower through the closing section having been handily placed. Nodoubtaboutthat (114) (75.8 seconds) came from the rear of the field and should be afforded another chance, especially as the Galway race she won has produced multiple winners.
Bangor pointers
The Donald McCain Racing Club Maiden Hurdle at Bangor on Wednesday, September 29th should be the subject of a few tracker entries with the early season novice hurdles in mind.
Donald McCain saddled Fruit N Nut (130+) to land the race in what was by far the fastest time on the card. Brian Hughes took no prisoners from flag fall and his partner sustained a sufficient gallop throughout to ensure the first five home in his race cross the line before Saturn ‘n Silk (108) when viewing the races side-by-side.
Stream The Stars (126+) finished closest on his first appearance on the track since running in the 2018 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot when with John Gosden. Now in the care of Nigel Twiston-Davies it will be a surprise if he does not land a similar race especially when brushing up his hurdling. Brorson (118) came under pressure but kept going well and Unexpected Party (115) was exhausted when making a mistake at the last, both showed enough to win in this sphere.