PHILIP Rothwell has his horses in good form these days. Fiveaftermidnight, who was allowed go off at 20/1 for the two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase at Naas on Saturday, stayed on strongly for Sean O’Keeffe in her first-time cheekpieces to win well.

Then three days later, at the rescheduled meeting at Fairyhouse on Tuesday, Enduring Love battled on well under Joanna Walton to spring a 25/1 shock in the Ladies Supporting Susan Handicap Chase.

As well as that, an hour and a half before Enduring Love’s race, Rightback Atya finished second at 50/1 in the two-and-a-half-mile handicap hurdle.

The trainer’s horses are often sent off at big prices, and it may be that some of them will be over-priced for now. He has had 14 runners so far this month, and none of them were sent off at an SP of less than 14/1.

Two of them were sent off at 100/1, one at 80/1, four at 66/1, one at 50/1 and one at 33/1. Indeed, only one was sent off at shorter than 20/1.

The median odds on those 14 runners is 58/1, the average odds is over 52/1, and you would be showing a level-stakes profit of €33.00 if you had had €1 on all 14 horses. The Philip Rothwell runners could be worth a second glance for the next little while.

“If you got a young jockey in and you said, just be like Pat Smullen. You wouldn’t have to tell them anything else.”

Johnny

Murtagh