Madhmoon

(K. Prendergast)

THIS colt established himself as one of the best two-year-olds in the country by winning both his starts in the autumn and he heads into 2019 as both a lively and legitimate classic contender. Madhmoon was well touted prior to making his debut at Leopardstown in August and he produced a performance to match with an impressive dismissal of a useful field, headed by the subsequent Group 1 runner-up Sydney Opera House.

A return to Leopardstown on Irish Champions Weekend was up next for the Dawn Approach colt and he produced a display of authority to dispose of another subsequent Group 1 second in Broome. Both of Madhmoon’s outings have suggested that he has legitimate aspirations of holding his own at the highest level and he could well follow in the footsteps of his close relation Awtaad who gave Kevin Prendergast that never-to-be-forgotten Irish 2000 Guineas triumph in 2016.

Rakan

(D.K. Weld)

ON breeding alone this colt appeals as a potentially high-class middle-distance three-year-old as he is a son of the great Sea The Stars and the first produce of his trainer’s 2014 Oaks runner-up Tarfasha. Rakan began his career with a promising third behind the subsequent stakes winner Norway at Naas in early October. A few weeks later he turned out in a mile maiden at Leopardstown and produced a thoroughly convincing effort to register a clear-cut success. Rakan was particularly strong over the course of the last furlong of that race and his performance suggested that he could be a formidable middle-distance performer as a three-year-old.

The Derrinstown Derby Trial has been mooted as a likely early season target and he will be worth watching out for in the Derby trials as his pedigree suggests that he will only get better as a three-year-old.

True Self

(W.P. Mullins)

AS a triple bumper winner and already a dual scorer at listed level this daughter of Oscar may seem an unusual inclusion but there is a chance that she could go much higher over the course of 2019. The coming year will see the first running of £1 million Ebor Handicap at York in August and even at this stage this mare appeals as a likely contender for her trainer whose record on the flat grows more impressive with every year that passes.

True Self and Colin Keane winning the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden. Healy Racing Photo

True Self met with defeat on her flat debut at Bellewstown in July but made amends with a wide-margin victory at Cork in October.

The five-year-old then took things to an entirely different level with two visits across the Irish Sea in the closing weeks of the season and the first of these yielded an easy success in a one-and three-quarter-mile stakes race at Bath. A couple of weeks later she took on the geldings in the James Seymour Stakes and, in another decisive display, she accounted for the multiple pattern race performer Air Pilot.

At her current rate of progress a step up to group races will be no problem for her next year, but the Ebor is surely a realistic target for this quality mare.