Sprinting might be a dirty word at Leopardstown considering the furore surrounding the proposed M50 extension, but the Group Three Ballogan Stakes over the minimum trip is at least the nominal highlight this evening.
Not since the first running of the Ballyogan in 1975 has their been a smaller field than tonight's, and considering the race has since been won by horses of the calibre of Solinus (1978), Committed (1985) and Mr Brooks (1991), this looks a very soft Group Three.
Final Exam certainly looked to have a much harder task when winning the Greenlands at the Curragh and Dermot Weld's horse should be short odds to beat his three opponents.
He has already beaten the trail-blazing Inourhearts over five furlongs this season, is rated well clear of Miracle Ridge and the filly Dietrich fell short of the top rank during her juvenile career.
Weld also supplies the toprated runner in the listed Glencairn Stakes with the wonderfully consistent Tarry Flynn. The double Lincoln winner has a couple of pounds officially in hand of Shoal Creek, but the latter's stable companion, Bach, is Mick Kinane's choice and the hint is worth taking.
Bach returned from a near career-ending pelvic injury when runner-up to Muakaad in the Mooresbridge and the race looked like it would do him a lot of good fitness wise. In that context, a fifth to Fantastic Light in the Tattersalls Gold Cup was hardly a big improvement but this race looks much more suitable for the former Royal Ascot winner.
Kinane starts this evening on 22 winners, a couple ahead of Pat Smullen and John Murtagh, and can extend his championship lead even further with the beautifully bred Snake Mountain in the mile and a half maiden.
Quietly, but significantly, Niall McCullagh has made a fine start to the season too and is currently in a clear fourth position with 13 winners. He could get off that unlucky mark with Sea Leopard in the first division of the seven-furlong handicap, as this horse was hampered in the closing stages when running sixth to Ger's Gold at Fairyhouse last week.
Summer In Siberia was one of the top bumper horses of last winter and with "good" ground forecast, the Willie Mullins-trained horse can use his undoubted turn of foot to winning effect in the last.
Tough Leader is on course to become the first English runner for four years in the Ulster Harp Derby at Down Royal on June 23rd , the seven-year-old's trainer, David Cosgrove, said yesterday.
