FRAN BERRY has a Classic date with Keredari to look forward to in Saturday’s Irish 2,000 Guineas, but he can kick the week off in style at Roscommon this evening with an opening double.
John Oxx’s number one jockey teams up with John Murphy for Top Spin in the opening mile-and-a-quarter maiden, and although the son of Cape Cross is officially rated a 1lb inferior to Thank Your Stars, he is bred to prefer these quick ground conditions.
Berry and Oxx have the Loughbrown winner Keredari lined up to try to fill the one Irish Classic blank on Oxx’s CV this weekend, and while O’ Bella Ballerina is nowhere near that class she should come on enough for a Cork fourth behind Awe Inspiring to figure in the fillies maiden.
Norther Bay has been unlucky recently, jumping almost too well and pecking at the last in Limerick, before bolting at the start in Cork last Friday.
Barry Geraghty will be on board in tonight’s handicap chase, but Norther Bay has to concede a lot of weight to the in-form Adajal who followed a Ballinrobe win with an easy victory at Killarney last week.
Duaiseoir won over a mile at Gowran last week, but this evening’s mile-and-a-half handicap shouldn’t be a problem for a horse who won over 11 furlongs at Dundalk last winter.
