Far From Dandy

(Stephen Thorne)

Killarney, July 14th

Emerging trainer Stephen Thorne has been rattling the crossbar plenty of late and Killarney third Far From Dandy looked an unlucky loser for the yard when flashing home from well off the pace on Monday. All-the-way winner Vlhova benefited from a canny Rory Cleary ride in the lead, while runner-up Vega’s Muse sat in second for most of the journey, so it looked a mile handicap where being prominent paid off. That counted against Far From Dandy, who broke slowly in first-time cheekpieces from a wide draw in stall 12, and gave his rivals a head start. Having only had one rival behind as the leaders reached the final two and a half furlongs, the ex-George Boughey-trained three-year-old then didn’t have an entirely clear passage and wasn’t committed immediately. Once Colin Keane got stuck into him down the outer with a furlong and a half to race, the response was impressive from the Middleham Park Racing Ireland-owned colt. He covered the final two furlongs in 23.71 seconds (as per RaceiQ/Coursetrack), which was faster than anything else in the line-up (winner did so 24.18 seconds, runner-up in 24.1 seconds), and got up for the minor money late. In pulling two and three-quarters of a length clear of the fourth, the handicapper has opted to raise him 2lb for this, but he still has definite potential to be ahead of his rating of 80. He might be a dangerous rival around Galway if connections head that direction, based on how he handled easy ground here.

Stellar Quality

(Jessica Harrington)

Killarney, July 14th

For all that she needs to become more professional going forward, Stellar Quality hinted at maiden-winning ability when third on her debut at Killarney and looks worth keeping an eye on for Jessica Harrington and Zhang Yuesheng. A three-year-old filly by Wootton Bassett, and out of an unraced Galileo mare, who is a half-sister to David Wachman’s Group 3 winner Most Beautiful, this late-maturing type caught the eye finishing off well over an extended mile and three furlongs in the Kingdom on Monday. She was easy to back (SP 4/1) and it didn’t look a deep race, albeit the fourth is rated 79. That said, she doesn’t look the finished article by any means in how she proved green when first coming under pressure and got caught a little flat-footed behind once the tempo lifted. The most pleasing aspect of the performance was her closing effort, finishing out the final three furlongs faster than anything else in the line-up, while still being given an education by Shane Foley. The stable have won similar fillies’ maidens at this distance category with worse types than her in recent seasons and perhaps she could be set for a decent second half of the season, with normal improvement from this.

Ethereal Star

(Martin Hassett)

Killarney, July 14th

The Martin Hassett team do a fine job with a relatively small string, and there were signs they could win a race with Ethereal Star on the basis of her improved third at Killarney on the same evening. This Fastnet Rock filly has been a slow burner through her maidens and connections have run her over anything from seven furlongs to an extended mile and three furlongs. However, Monday’s third at Killarney over the latter distance goes down as her best showing yet, and she put together a more complete showing than had been the case previously. There was no matching the ready winner, Magnolia Drive, but for much of the straight the Midwestip Syndicate-owned three-year-old looked likeliest to come out of the pack and finish closest. She was only nabbed for second close home by the running-on Whats New, who has been sent off 5/1 or less on each of his last three starts and is a solid enough yardstick in this category of three-year-old handicap. A 1lb nudge for Ethereal Star to a mark of 50 means she’s going to be competitive in similar company again, and this run suggested she might be just finding her feet. A little more progress should see her go close.