No Avail napped

Bellewstown winds up this evening with another marathon eight race-card, and while it looks a typically competitive programme…

Bellewstown winds up this evening with another marathon eight race-card, and while it looks a typically competitive programme, a number of horses look worthy of interest.

No more so than No Avail, who goes for a third success in a row in the Derek Handicap over 14 furlongs.

That is a quarter mile further than she encountered when winning easily at the Curragh last Saturday, but stamina shouldn't be a problem. That promising apprentice Shane Kelly sent her to the front before the straight and the race was quickly in safe-keeping, with Alleged Aggressor and Celtic Lore running on best of the rest.

That was on testing ground but No Avail had previously won on a decent surface at Tralee, beating I Remember It Well easily. She is obviously in good form at present and it usually pays to stay on the right side of mares like this. Another horse to keep on the right side of is the beautifully-bred Chalna in the opening Thatch Bar Maiden. By Darshaan out of the Coronation Stakes winning mare Chalon, Chalna is bred for better than this, but showed enough when fourth at Naas recently, after losing ground at the start, to suggest she should be able to break her duck against the Wexford runner-up Vagrant.

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Another impressive winner last time out was John McLoughlin's Girls In Pearls, who won a maiden at Roscommon in early June. She beat Sarigor, a winner here on Wednesday, by a length, with another subsequent winner, Jay And-A, back in third. She has to give a lot of weight away in the Heineken Handicap but is fancied to do so.

Southern Man was a very easy winner at Clonmel last month, but Sandra Louise was a clear second and is marginally preferred in the Mulvaney Handicap Hurdle. Charlie Swan will hoping Fawn Prince will be his first winner as a trainer in the first division of the maiden hurdle, while is mount in the other half; Hi-Jamie, is better than he showed here on Wednesday and can take the prize.

Gay Kelleway is to move to Lingfield Park as the Surrey track's first resident trainer, it was announced yesterday. She is having 70 boxes refurbished for her and they will be ready by the middle of the month.

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor is the racing correspondent of The Irish Times. He also writes the Tipping Point column