Amanha

(Dermot McLoughlin)

Thurles, December 17th

It was pleasing to see the Dermot McLoughlin-trained Amanha improve as she did from her debut run to finish closest to the promising Femme Magnifique in the mares’ bumper at Thurles last Sunday. She has worn a tongue-tie in both starts and only first appeared in November of her five-year-old season, but the Authorized filly looks like she will be worth the wait on what she showed here.

There was no shame in finding the Willie Mullins-trained favourite too strong and perhaps she raced a little further back than ideal with how the race unfolded. Continued improvement will be required to win a bumper in Ireland but she rates a decent prospect to win races and is entitled to come forward from this again as an unexposed mare. (MB)

Pastorale

(Henry de Bromhead)

Thurles, December 17th

Pastorale might have been flattered to have finished so close to Fun Fun Fun in the Listed Billy Harney Memorial Irish EBF Mares Novice Hurdle, but that shouldn’t take away from what was a really promising effort from her in third. She settled much better than she had on previous run (fifth of six in a Naas novice hurdle) and while she had plenty to do in the straight, with the favourite and Birdie Or Bust kicking on, she picked up nicely after the last to get within a length of the admittedly eased down Fun Fun Fun in second, and four lengths off the advantageous winner. A winner over fences in France, this was just the four-year-old filly’s second run for Henry de Bromhead and the key thing was that she settled and was able to see out her race much better this time. She might be worth a try up in trip in time but for now, two miles looks fine for her, with a more strongly run race likely to help her as well. (RG)

Natural Look

(Declan Queally)

Navan, December 17th

Natural Look put up a big effort in defeat when third to Harvard Guy and Lord Erskine in the Listed Tara Handicap Hurdle over two and a half miles at Navan on Sunday. Declan Queally’s mare raced in midfield throughout, and while she had no answer to the front two between the final two flights, she kept to her task well and had everything else well held in what looked a good heat. The winner is an unexposed J.P. McManus-owned horse that will be a force in bigger races in the coming months while Lord Erskine is a really competitive mark and was racing at one of his favourite tracks, so this looks like strong form. Previously, the seven-year-old mare had won a handicap chase in good style at Galway, again taking on the geldings, and she should have plenty of options over the coming weeks. She has now run her best ever race over hurdles and over fences on her last two starts, so she could hardly be in better form. (RG)

Rolly Bowley Boy

(Ciaran Murphy)

Navan, December 17th

Gavin Cromwell’s Pour Pavore made light work of an introductory chasing rating that was 10lb lower than his hurdles mark in the extended-two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase at Navan last Sunday, meaning the rest could only essentially play for minor money. Ciaran Murphy’s Rolly Bowley Boy picked up second and could be able to go one better if taking a step forward from this and getting onto even more testing ground than he faced here. The Carlotamix six-year-old apparently thrived on extremely deep going at Clonmel when winning last January. Nine of his previous 10 starts had come at right-handed tracks, so going back that direction possibly could be beneficial for him too. He has options at Limerick next week and it will be interesting to see whether he can deliver his best on a short turnaround. (MB)