2026 Curragh Lincolnshire Meeting Tips – DS
2026 Curragh Lincolnshire Meeting Preview
The Flat is back! And after what happened during the week, Dave Stevos is looking forward to the change of code. His 2026 Curragh Lincolnshire meeting preview and tips are below, no NAP or NB today, it’s early in the season and there’s too much guesswork involved.
1.25 – Irish EBF Maiden (2yo)
The first juvenile race of the season and as ever, it’s a bit of a guessing game. Amo Racing’s trainer Robson Aguiar runs four and three of them head the market. Stable jockey David Egan rides Force Noir, a son of Persian Force, a stallion that Amo will be hoping makes a fast start at stud.
This fella is related to a number of winners, all of whom did their winning on good ground. His dam’s best efforts came on good to firm and his sire won his G2 on good to firm, so while he may have been showing the most at home, there has to be major question marks over whether he’ll handle this testing ground.
Second String
On jockey arrangements, What A Girl Wants, another by Persian Force, looks the ‘second string.’ However, on breeding, he looks more likely to handle the conditions. All of his winning half-siblings enjoyed soft ground and his dam was listed placed on soft.
Donagh O’Connor, who has ridden a few winners for Amo at Dundalk in recent months, is on Bull Shark. He’s by Persian Force’s sire Mehmas, one of the classiest stallions around. He’s a half to Shelton, a 7f winner here on good at 2yo for Paddy Twomey. You’d have to worry about the ground for him too.
Mikey Sheehy rides Ballinea Star, a daughter of Space Blues whose dam won here on soft to heavy over 6f. His sire won on heavy and he also produced Power Blue, a G1 2yo winner who won this race on soft ground for Amo last season. For me, she makes most appeal of the Aguiar quartet and while she opened at 25s with one firm, that is disappearing before my eyes as I type and she is now 14s.
Ruler Bred For The Job
However, the one I am going to back is Ruler’s Control. He’s by Territories, a sire whose progeny often handle testing conditions. His half-sister Miss Maia was a winner on debut on heavy and listed placed on soft in Italy and his grand-dam was a G1 and listed winner on very soft in France.
Carlow based trainer Jack Foley hasn’t had many runners but he’s already sent out two 2yo winners, though they both admittedly had a previous run under their belts. Luke McAteer was on both of those winners and he takes the ride here.
Another plus is the fact that Ruler’s Control was a mid-February foal so he should be an early type and at the odds, I think he’s worth taking a chance on each way. Obviously, we’re guessing here so it isn’t a lump job but at 28/1, having a couple of quid each way is worth the risk.
2026 Curragh Lincolnshire meeting Tip: Ruler’s Control e/w @ 28/1
3.10 – Nua’s Canine Therapy Handicap (100 = 10st)
I have previewed this race and the previous race on the card for the Racing Post spots. In the 2.35 I put up Merisi Diamond and he’s opened up at around 11/1. If he’s fit he’s handicapped to run well and he’ll go on the bad ground.
In this race I went with Stag Night to win. He’s gone well at this meeting for the past two years, he likes testing ground and he’s 4lb lower than when beaten 2.5l in it last year. I also strongly considered putting up Padraig Roche’s mare, Back Down Under.
The 5yo daughter of Australia won first time out last year on this card, the only time she got soft ground in 2025. She has never finished out of the frame in three previous starts on soft-heavy and she proved she can be competitive off her current mark when beaten 1l behind Go Athletico in the Scurry here last season.
Her form figures on her previous first runs of the season read 331, so she clearly goes well fresh, and her yard won the Fred Winter with Saratoga at Cheltenham on Tuesday. With double figure odds on offer, Back Down Under is the each way selection.
2026 Curragh Lincolnshire meeting Tip: Back Down Under e/w @ 10/1
4.20 – Irish Lincolnshire Handicap (Premier)
The first big handicap of the season and we have a full field of 26. Due to the presence of the 108 rated legend Big Gossey, quite a few of these have to run from out of the handicap, including my 40/1 fancy, the Diego Dias trained Senna’s Girl.
She has an official rating of 79 and she has to run off 84 but given her record fresh and her liking for testing ground, I still think she could have a big run in her.
I’ll be completely honest, I think this daughter of Arizona is a bit of a monkey. She’s 0-11 for a reason but she is up to winning a race, she’s just going to need everything to drop right for that to happen. On debut as a 2yo she finished third in a hot maiden here, finishing just over 3l behind future G1 winner Lake Victoria and future G3 winner Red Letter.
Highly Tried
She didn’t build on that in four subsequent starts as a 2yo, but she was very highly tried at times. On her return as a 3yo she was narrowly denied in a Gowran maiden (7f, soft), her first run on testing ground. However, the run that makes her of interest to me here is her eleventh placed finish in a 7f Curragh handicap on her penultimate start last season.
In that 26 runner heat she was dropped out and around 1.5f from home, she began to scythe through the field, hard on the bridle. As they hit the 150-yard pole she was on the heels of the leaders but then a gap closed and her rider had to sit and suffer. By the time he got daylight again it was game over and in the end, she was beaten 5l.
That was off a mark of 68 but the way she moved through the field, it looked like she was a group horse running in a handicap. She ran in a rated race here on her next start and was pitched in against horses rated in the 80s and the 96 rated Tina’s Indian.
First Run On Heavy
Her first start on heavy, she again was held up and produced late, but she wasn’t produced late enough. As soon as she came upsides the leader, she started to lift her head and look to the side and while she briefly hit the front, by the time they crossed the line Tina’s Indian had battled back to the front.
It was still a serious effort against a filly that was rated 18lbs higher, even with the 9lb weight allowance taken into consideration. She had the 82 rated I Am Superman and the 87 rated Follow Me 7l and 8.5l behind, so there was depth to the race and the handicapper agreed, hiking her up 11lb for that effort.
Rory Cleary comes in for the ride and while he has been known to hit the front too soon at times (sorry Rory!), he is capable of timing his challenge right and if this filly is going to get her head in front, she’ll need to be produced right on the lollipop. I think the hustle and bustle of a big field like this will suit her, the trip is fine and if she can avoid traffic problems, hopefully Senna’s Girl can hit the frame at odds of 40/1.
