THANKS, in no small part, to the influx of a number of talented horses from Ballygallon Stud, Johnny Murtagh has enjoyed a fine campaign to date and with 20 winners already on the board, he could be a man to follow as we head into the final nine weeks of the season.
“We had our first runners at Dundalk in January and the horses have been running well enough all year, but the last few weeks we got a few very nice horses from France and things have improved since. You need good horses in the yard and we have a nice bunch of horses at the minute,” explained Murtagh.
“I have a great team of people in the yard and we all get on and they do what they have to do. The horses are running well and we’ll aim a few of them at the big handicaps on Champions Weekend,” he added.
CHILLI SPICE
3yo ch f (47181)
Manduro - Contrary
Ballygallon Stud Limited
She is a very nice filly. She has always worked well. She settled lovely and put the race to bed very quickly when she won at Roscommon and she could go back to Roscommon for another fillies handicap on Monday. The aim is to try and sneak a bit of blacktype for her before the end of the season. She had been working very well before she ran and she has come out of the race well. She is light on her feet and she is pretty agile. She handles most ground bar extremes.
DUCHESS ANDORRA
5yo b m (26426239)
Duke Of Marmalade - Andorra
Micheal D Ryan
She has improved this year and she’ll take her chance in the Dance Design at the Curragh on Sunday. She ran very well at the
Curragh the last day and she is very tough and genuine. She is listed placed and while I think I might be a bit ambitious running her in a Group 3, she is in very good form and I don’t think we have anything to lose at this stage. She is a fine big strapping mare, with a good constitution and a great will to win, so in time she could be a nice broodmare.
EDDYSTONE ROCK
4yo ch g (7231121)
Rock Of Gibraltar - Bayberry
JP Murtagh Racing
He won again at Tipperary on Thursday. He was busy in the early part of the year, but he has done well for his break and we are hoping to finish off the season well with him. A mile and a quarter or mile and a half suits him well and he has done nothing but improve. He is rated 95 and he is in with the big boys so we’ll make a plan now. He looks great.
FULL COURT PRESS
3yo b g (121555)
Frozen Power - Share The Feeling
JP Murtagh Racing
He was a bit disappointing at Killarney but the ground may have been a bit quick for him. He is a nice horse that wants an ease in the ground. He has done well for us this year and there has been a bit of interest in him from a few of the jumps boys, so I suppose that is what he’ll end up doing. A mile and a quarter or mile and a half on slow ground is what he wants.
HAWKE
4yo b g (4450-831)
Oratorio - Australie
Ballygallon Stud Limited
He is a very nice horse that came to us from France. From the moment he came, he always looked like a nice horse. I told Colin that if he ran the way he worked, that he’d be very hard to beat. He cruised around the race at Dundalk and quickened up well and put the race to bed.
Colin said that he hit the line strong and he’ll go for the big mile and a quarter handicap on Champions Weekend. He has won on heavy and he also handles the polytrack. I think he’ll be effective on the good ground on the grass.
KEUKENHOF
3yo ch f (64607105)
Dutch Art - Clytha
Martin McHale
She has won around Dundalk. She has disappointed a bit on the grass and she is better on the all-weather, so I’d imagine that we’ll keep her on the go for the winter series at Dundalk.
LANDSMAN
3yo b g (008-132)
Canford Cliffs - Mowaadah
JP Murtagh Racing
He got touched off last week at Tramore. A mile and a quarter on good ground is what he wants.
He is rated 85 now but I think he’ll be competitive off that. There are a few of the jumping lads looking at him and unless he makes what I think he is worth, we’ll be keeping him.
LUNADA
4yo b m (490-204)
Raven’s Pass - Million Waves
A To Z Partnership
She took a couple of runs to get organised and she was second in a maiden at Dundalk earlier this year. She handles that surface well and she looks great after a nice break. She is one that will be kept on the go for the winter.
PACODALI
3yo b g (52420)
Paco Boy - Dont Dili Dali
McPeake Investments(NI) Ltd
He was busy in the first half of the season and I think he is a good horse. He came back a bit light after Ascot so I gave him a break, and he has come back bigger and stronger and he has put back on the weight that he lost after Ascot.
He showed this year that he is a good horse and we will try and win a maiden with him. I think he could develop into a much better four-year-old. He handled soft ground at the Curragh and I’d say good to soft will be fine for him.
MORE THAN MUNNY
3yo ch g (41345809)
Munnings - Winner’s Ticket
McPeake Investments(NI) Ltd
He pulled a little muscle in his back and I had to back off him a bit. He likes a bit of good ground, so we may have missed the boat with him on the grass.
But he likes the all-weather and I’d say that he will be kept on the go for the winter at Dundalk.
PEACEHAVEN
4yo b m (864115)
Rip Van Winkle - Crystal Gaze
Ballygallon Stud Limited
I thought she ran well on Sunday. She may have been drawn on the wrong side away from the pace. She stayed on well at the finish and I think she’ll win off her mark. She handles an ease, but five or six furlongs on good ground is what she wants.
QUALIA
3yo b f (67346)
Duke Of Marmalade – Australie
Ballygallon Stud Limited
She is another filly that was sent to me from France. She is a nice big filly and she ran well enough at Roscommon. We are still learning about her and I am hoping that she’ll be competitive in handicaps for us before the end of the year.
SAPPHIRINE
4yo b m (2130655)
Shamardal - Crystany
Ballygallon Stud Limited
She ran well the other day. She is another that came to me from France. I think she’ll be competitive in her own grade and hopefully we will get a bit of form before the end of the year.
SET TO FIRE
3yo b f (2340664)
Big Bad Bob - Set Fire
McPeake Investments(NI) Ltd
She has been placed a few times and her work suggests that she is well up to winning one. She is in the 45-65 grade now and if you told me that she would be in that grade at the start of the year, I wouldn’t have believed you. Hopefully she will have a day in a little handicap between now and the end of the year. She runs at Tipperary on Thursday.
SISTER BLANDINA
3yo gr f (151143)
Mastercraftsman - Tara’s Wells
Bridge Bloodstock Partnership
She ran a cracker again at the weekend. She has improved all through the year and she has really grown into her frame. She was big and backward, but she has thrived throughout the summer and has developed into a good servant for us.
I’d like to run her again this year and her owner is keen to keep her training next year. I suppose the ultimate aim would be to try and get some blacktype for her. She is rated 81 now and I think she’ll be competitive off that and hopefully we’ll see a better filly next year. She handles most types of ground and mile and a quarter to mile and a half suits her well.
SOUL SEARCHER
4yo b m (3551)
Motivator - Israar
Mrs Wendy O’Leary
She is a very nice filly that had been going well at home, but I didn’t know what to expect from her first time out at Sligo. Eddie O’Leary told me that she would handle soft ground, and she won well and the aim is to try and pick up some blacktype for her. She’ll go for the mile and six handicap at Leopardstown on Champions Weekend. She does stay well and she ploughs through soft ground.
STANLEY DALEY
3yo b g (860009)
Bushranger - Precipice
J M Doherty
We are struggling a little bit with him. He ran well in a maiden last year, but he is in a grade that he should be competitive in and I’m hopeful that he’ll win a little handicap before the end of the year.
TIME TO REASON?
3yo b g (342113)
Kyllachy - Danehurst
Sultan Ali
He is another horse that has really improved. For the first couple of months of the year, he just looked an ordinary horse, but he has really improved with racing. He was third at the Curragh at the weekend and the plan is that he’ll go for the big seven furlong handicap at Leopardstown on Champions Weekend. He is not very good in the mornings, but he lights up when he goes racing. The handicapper hasn’t missed him, but in saying that, he is rated 96 now, so if he didn’t have that mark, he wouldn’t get into the big handicap at Leopardstown. The ground may have gone a little against him at the Curragh - I think good ground is ideal for him.
WINDSOR BEACH
4yo ch g (402312)
Starspangledbanner - Highindi
Paul Smith
He has done well for us and he has been unlucky not to have won a couple. He is due to run at Gowran on Wednesday and he is a good, solid handicapper that runs his race all the time.
He stays well and he handles good ground. He might run somewhere over a mile and a half before the end of the season, but the race at Gowran is over a mile and a quarter and that trip suits him well.
TWO-YEAR-OLDS
ADMIRALITY
b g (707)
Mount Nelson - Dialma
JP Murtagh Racing
He is a big, raw two-year-old. He was going well in the spring but he has been a little disappointing on the track. He has had his three runs and I’d say he’ll be competitive in a nursery before the end of the season.
He is growing all the time - he is 490kgs and I’d be hopeful that before the end of the year, that he’d run a nice race in a nursery. He is a bit one paced for two-year-old races, but I think he’ll make into a better three year old.
BLITZ
b f (32)
Exceed And Excel - Photo Flash
Qatar Racing Limited
She is one of our best two-year-olds. She has run well in her two maidens and I like her a lot. She’ll more than likely run at Navan in a fillies maiden on Saturday. I think she’ll win a maiden and she was only touched off the last day at the Curragh and the horse that beat her, was second in a stakes race at the Curragh last weekend. I think she could be nice and good ground I think will be ideal for her.
GRAND COALITION
b c (310734)
Kodiac - Defined Feature
A P Smurfit/Dr M Smurfit/S M Mencoff
I put him in the Champion Two Yrs Old Trophy at Ripon next week. Six furlongs suits him well and he has been keeping good company. I think there is a good day in him before the end of the season. He is tough and consistent and good ground suits him well. He won his maiden nicely at the Curragh and I have always thought a good bit of him.
LES ARCEAUX
b g (909)
Arcano - Amoureux
JP Murtagh Racing
He is a big, backward two-year-old and I thought he was ready, but he has run a bit below par on the track. I’d say he’ll have one more run this season as he has grown a fair bit and I’d say we’ll see a better horse next year.
MISS COGENT
b f (8517857)
Clodovil - Onomatomania
JP Murtagh Racing
I was delighted with her at the Curragh at the weekend. She settled great and she came home well. We have been riding her wrong in that we were letting her blast along. That was probably her best run to date and she’ll go now for the big sales race at the Curragh on Champions Weekend. She is a filly that I have always held in high regard, and she settled well in the hood at the weekend and I think we have yet to see the best of her.
PORTO FERRO
b f (7)
Arcano - Sassari
Qatar Racing Limited
I thought she ran well last week. She may have needed the run and I hope she can improve to win a race this year. She has a nice pedigree and good to-good-to-firm ground suits her well.
READY TB
b c (15555)
Roderic O’Connor - Acushladear
Qatar Racing Limited
He is much the same as Grand Coalition. He won first time out and I think he wants good-to-firm ground. I think a stiff six or a sharp seven is ideal for him and I’d like to think that there is a good day in him before the end of the season.
TRUE VALOUR
b c (632)
Kodiac - Sutton Veny
Qatar Racing Limited
He is a nice two-year-old. He just missed out last time and I am hoping that he’ll win a seven furlong maiden before the end of the year. He is a typical Kodiac – tough and hardy - and I gave him a break after his run the last day at Leopardstown as he put heart and soul into that race.