2024 Curragh Irish Lincolnshire Meeting Tips
2024 Curragh Irish Lincolnshire Meeting Preview
I thought it was going to be one of those days after the poor runs from Alien Storm and Transmission on Saturday. However, Beauport ensured we went home happy, winning the Midlands National advised at 16/1. It’s a bank holiday in Ireland on Monday and the flat is back! Check out Dave Stevos 2024 Curragh Irish Lincolnshire Meeting tips below.
1.35 – Irish EBF Maiden (2yo)
The first 2yo maiden of the season and eleven of them will line up in the stalls. It’s the minimum trip and as ever, all we have to go on is pedigree and market strength. Adrian Murray won this with Bucanero Fuerte last year and he runs three this time.
The market says that Arizona Blaze is the one. David Egan rides and this son of Sergei Prokofiev is bred to go on the muck. He’s a half to a heavy ground winner, he’s a March colt so he should be pretty well developed physically and he’s been backed into 11/8 from 5/2.
Interesting Filly
However, Murray also runs a filly in the race and she’ll be ridden by Silvestre De Sousa. By Inns Of Court, a promising sire, Linesky’s dam is a full sister to a filly that relishes testing ground. Her dam is descended from a family that had some strong stayers, including Estimate, and on this ground that stamina could come in handy.
This February filly is friendless in the market so far. She’s drifted out to as big as 20/1 but that doesn’t worry me too much. Obviously, these early season 2yo maidens are a complete guessing game and most punters just follow the money. However, sometimes you can find one on breeding that goes and runs a big race, hopefully Linesky can do exactly that at odds of 20/1.
2024 Curragh Irish Lincolnshire Meeting tip: Linesky e/w @ 20/1
2.05 – La Celia Wines Handicap (3yo+)
One horse in here who is a heavy ground Curragh specialist is Mickey The Steel. Trained by Joe Murray, this son of Hot Streak loves it when the muck is flying. Back in November he won here over 5f off a mark of 89 and he is in off 91 today.
He hasn’t been seen since an average run at Dundalk in November. He was likely over the top then and the fact he comes here fresh is a plus in my book. Bar a poor effort on his return in 2021 (on unsuitably good ground) he has career form figures of 3232 first time up.
His heavy ground form figures read 22210211 so there’s no excuse in terms of the underhoof conditions. Dylan Browne McMonagle has won on him before and while I’d have preferred to see a claimer booked, he carried heavier weights than this for his last two wins (9st 6lbs & 9st 9lbs).
I thought he’d be a fair bit shorter than 10/1 and those odds are just about big enough for the blog. If he’s fit, he should run a big race.
2024 Curragh Irish Lincolnshire Meeting tip: Mickey The Steel e/w @ 10/1 (4 places) NB
3.40 – Park Express Stakes (Group 3)
The first stakes race of the Irish flat season is this 8f Group 3 for the 3yos. Eleven will go to post and last year’s Gladness Stakes winner Goldana is the 11/4 fav. That win came on heavy so the ground should pose no problems and Joseph O’Brien’s horses are flying. Obvious chance but that is reflected in his odds.
Of those at bigger prices, a couple make some appeal. Alpheratz won a heavy ground Gowran maiden at the backend of last season. She made her debut at Thurles a couple of weeks beforehand and finished 1.25L behind Je Zous, a horse that was subsequently runner up in the Listed Montrose Stakes at Newmarket, earning a rating of 94. However, it’s a bit worrying to see the hood applied and Joe Murphy’s horses often need a run.
Must Improve
The other one I like is only rated 84 so she is going to need to improve plenty. However, Sli Na Ghealai hails from a yard well able to ready one and she is going to relish this heavy ground. Jim Bolger’s filly is by Vocalised, a sire well known for producing mudlarks. She has already proven she handles this ground, winning a 7f handicap on heavy at Leopardstown on her final run of 2023.
She is certainly bred to be a black type filly. Her Galileo dam is a sister to G1 winner Soldier Of Fortune and G3 winner Heliostatic. These Vocalised horses usually progress well from 2yo to 3yo and this filly is bred along similar lines to Comhra (3rd in Irish Guineas), Cimeara (G3 winner at 3yo) and Vociferous Marina (Listed winner at 3yo).
Hopefully Sli Na Ghealai handles the ground better than most of her rivals and with odds of 25/1 on offer, she is the e/w selection.
2024 Curragh Irish Lincolnshire Meeting tip: Sli Na Ghealai e/w @ 25/1
4.10 – Irish Lincolnshire Handicap (Premier)
William Hill were the first firm to price this race up and they put Razdan in at 40s. I was hoping and praying that his odds would hold until I did the preview this evening but unfortunately, the money has come. He is now into as short as 12s and 14s with most firms but thankfully there is still some 25s available.
I am going to stick with him because everything looks set for him to run a big race. Firstly, he won a mile handicap on similarly diabolical ground at this meeting last year off 72. He only had 0.75L to spare but in truth it was a more comfortable win than the margin suggests.
Perfect Prep
Since then he’s only been seen four times and one of those runs was a perfect prep at Dundalk in what was a farcical race. He ran really well at Galway in August, beat 3L off 80 over 8.5f and then finishing 4th over 12f two days later. He does like it there but on last March’s evidence, he is fond of the Curragh too.
I’ll be honest, I have long thought of this horse as one that might win an Ebor or a similar staying handicap. However, on this desperate ground a mile seems to be perfect for him. Sorcha Woods claims a valuable 7lbs so while he is 7lbs ‘wrong’ at the weights, he’ll be effectively running off his correct mark of 77.
That’s 3lbs lower than he was when running so well at Galway over this trip and just 2lbs higher than when he ran a cracker at Lingfield on A/W Champs day. He’s drawn in stall 3, right beside stall 4 where he started from when winning here last season. He should be fit after his spin at Dundalk so at odds of 25/1, back Razdan e/w.
2024 Curragh Irish Lincolnshire Meeting tip: Razdan e/w @ 25/1 (5 places) NAP
4.40 – Quinnbet Handicap (70 = 10st)
On his only previous run at the Curragh and his only run on heavy ground, Play It Again Zaam ran a cracker to finish third in a maiden at this meeting last year (7f hvy) for Barry Fitzerald. He was beat 4.75l behind Shadowed (rated 87) and 2.5L behind Something Nice (now rated 88). Livi Milo was back in fourth and he is now rated 80.
It is fair to say that since then, things haven’t gone to plan for Conor Maxwell’s son of Elzaam. Maxwell is the fifth trainer to try and crack the code with this 4yo and maybe these ground conditions are what he needs to show his best.
Effectively Off 52
A couple of months after that excellent Curragh run, he ran well again on soft ground, in another 7f maiden at Gowran. That form isn’t as strong as his run here but it would still probably be good enough to be competitive in today’s race, especially off a mark of just 57. With Sean Bowen’s 5lb claim he is effectively in off 52.
Maybe that run here last year was a fluke but heavy ground could hold the key for this 4yo and at odds of 33/1, he is worth chancing e/w for small stakes.
2024 Curragh Irish Lincolnshire Meeting tip: Play It Again Zaam e/w @ 33/1 (6 places)
5.10 – Cavalor Nutrition Handicap (47-70)
The old boy Downforce will love the ground but he’s a 12yo now. A mark of 64 would be a snip on his peak form, and even on some of last year’s form, but he’s needed his first run in the last couple of seasons.
This race is a minefield to be honest and it is definitely one for small stakes. At around 16/1, maybe Redshore City can exploit a mark of 47 for Natalia Lupini and Wayne Lordan. This gelding comes into the race with a run under his belt and it wasn’t the worst of efforts at Dundalk.
This will be a different test but he ran his best race on turf on soft ground when beat 0.5L off 51 at Sligo back in August. He has only run once on heavy and that was an excellent effort at Naas (5f) when beat 3.5L off a mark of 64.
The booking of Wayne Lordan catches the eye (15/59 with 16 top 4s for Lupini) and he hasn’t got the worst of draws in stall 7. He ran alright to finish fifth on his sole previous visit to the Curragh off 53, hopefully he can finish in the first five again off 47. At odds of 16/1, Redshore City is the e/w selection.
