Leopardstown Today.

Wildman you may have been looking at a different race to be but I saw Johnny stoking Akeed Moffed for the first three furlongs after falling out of the stalls and running very green. He hardly looked like he knew how to out one leg in front of the other for the early part of the race. Exiting the back straight he was, like most of the field, too far back to ever catch Learn and the sensible option was to wheel round the bend and let him roll up the straight without being unduly hard. A big eyecatcher yes but to suggest bans should have ensued is foolish. I would be disappointed if he doesn't go very very close today and a recent entry in the Racing Post Trophy bodes very well.

Having watched replays of the the runners in the opening maiden I have plumped for Oh So Lucy. She travelled strongly in debut and when given one slap a furlong and a half out she took off under JPM. She continued to run on strongly under hand riding and looks one that will progress. I initially fancied Ahisma who will run well but having watched her runs a lack of a turn of leaves her susceptible to others. Will still pick up a maiden comfortably this year.

I would expect Viscount Nelson and Misty For Me to win but the letter is short enough at her current price.

Agreed the turnout for the Champion Stakes is pretty poor considering the prizemoney on offer and Richard Hughes raised some very valid points in the RP today. SYT should be collecting though I wouldn't be expecting fireworks from him with other prizes to be targeted later in the year. Recital looked a very exciting type last year and it's likely we haven't seen the best of him this year. A good run wouldn't suprise but he still has something to prove after a break and over shorter than ideal. I expect a good show from Snow Fairy and hopefully the dark clouds hanging over here in D6 now don't spell too much rain heading towards Leopardstown as it wouldn't help her chances. Third run of the season should mean she is cherry ripe. She had no chance off the slow gallop in the Nassau the last day so hopefully they ride her more prominently today and Roderic O' Connor goes a decent clip. Frankie is the big race king and I would imagine they will be trying to come up with a plan to give her the best chance possible of overturning the fav. I've taken the 11/10 without SYT and make it a fair enough price. Famous Name is game and consistent but thoroughly exposed at this level.

It's a good card and hopefully there will be a decent crowd in attendance on a fantastic sporting weekend.

I am never in favour of bans my point was the stewards are harsh on small trainers only.We seem pretty much in agreement apart from that and all i know is i have a perfectly preserved grand in sterling which will be landing on Akeed Mofeed who despite the dreadful name will be a champion.

Well done wildman on the Oxx beast,oh and nice to see the previews up again

good call well done

i always had faith in you wildman....

wd wildman


Together bein well backed here and Misty driftin - dont understand it at all - think Misty should be odds on [:x]

We shall see

Would nt have backed that with stolen anyway

Shocker from young O'Brien on Wild Wind there.....managed to get stopped in run by his own stable runners

Wild Wind massive eyecatcher indeed

Very strange tactics on Misty i thought!

Making the pace for Wild Wind

Disastrous route young Obrien took, looked awful and I doubt Murtagh will be sending him a birthday card

Whatever.  Emulous was unreal.  The female Frankel!

Nice write up Wildman, Akeed Mofeed certainly took the eye in the paddock

A few decent shouts there wmfb. Wd. Although you could be getting carried away with that Oxx thing winning the derby.
Nice horse all the same.

25s with PPs for the Guineas. No Derby quote.

I like the Oxx horse myself,he made up about 15 lenghts in the straight fto after missing the break and not being "killed" to make up the ground.He travelled like a dream yesterday and I'd love to see him run again against better opposition.

I know it is difficult to weigh up the strength of maiden form but Akeed Mofeed travelled well and won going away by 6 lengths without Murtagh asking for too much effort. I was really impressed and would not be suprised if this lad went to the the very top.

The sire would be a concern but he looks like a stayer,as far as getting carried away unusually i did it before the race.

The first thing that struck me about Akeed Mofeed is that he is smaller than I expected. He still looked to have plenty of quality about him but he was a different type than what I thought having viewed his first run on tv. He does have s smashing head on him which I always like. He got a nice ride by JPM who negated the possible draw disadvantage by bouncing him out smartly and getting a nice position early. He always travelled a dream and I was counting my money exiting the back straight. It's easy to say it in hindsight (though I did allude to his strong chance in my pre-race views) but I was suprised at how wrong the market had the prices. While Athens had a very good debut he didn't stand out in the ring as being a superstar and was always likely to be better over further. One imagines Akeed Mofeed will be well up ti competing at group one level this season.

One that caught my eye was Aloof. She looks like one that will progress plenty in time and wouldn't be suprised if she emerged as the best filly in the race. Has a very good page and is being brought along slowly having shown very obvious signs of inexperience on debut.

An extraordinary post from Allduckornodinner,in his first post he states that i had seen a different race than he had,he then states....I would be disappointed if he doesnt go very very close..........This wishy washy statement becomes....I did allude to his strong chance.....in the second easier post.
The first pre race post was wrong on most counts,the second post race post was naturally very accurate.

Wildman I stated that you must have seen a different race to me with regard to hid debut run because you said bans would have ensued if Akeed Mofeed had been trained by a smaller operation. Thats patently wrong as he wasn't intentionally prevented from achieving his best possible position so who trained him is wholly irrelevant.

On another point does stating that you expect a horse to go close not suggest that you feel he has a strong chance. I would have thought so but I bow down to an intellectual goliath such as yourself.

As regards the rest of my prerace post I got the fillys maiden mostly wrong, got the matron wrong, went off Mount Nelson oncourse having seem him and got the Champion Stakes pretty much spot on.

In Akeed Mofeeds first race Murtagh rode the last three furlongs with his hands on the horses withers,he finished fourth,he was not ridden to maintain his best position ,there are each way punters out there.If a small trainer had him guarantee the easy target would be dragged before the stewards and its this unfairness that annoys me.Funnily enough in your first post you actually state.....wheel round the bend and let him roll up the straight....thats a fair description of a horse not running on his merits.
Your second point is correct but you came on claiming not alone that you backed it but that the betting was wrong,why didnt you say that in your first post rather than the each way path you choose.

Wildman the horse was too far behind to catch the leaders in Leopardstown. Must have been a full twenty lengths off the front two three furlongs put as he got left out the back through greenness early in the race. The horse was unbalanced out of the stalls and took an age to find his stride. As victory was out of the question it was the correct decision to leave him wheel around the bend (rushing him onto the hocks of the ones coming back would have been pointless and doing so also ensured he kept his equilibrium). He then proceeded to let him breeze down the straight as the horse really found himself. If he had hit him he would quite possibly been third (assuming he didn't shy from the whip) but there isn't a steward out there that would have done a jockey for not hitting a 2yo on debut unless not doing so cost them the race. We can argue semantics all day but in my view that ride didn't constitute a non trier.

As for your second point at the time I typed my original post I believe Athens was 5/4 and Akeed Mofeed was 2/1. As I hadn't actually seen a replay of Athens debut I was not in a position to make a fully informed decision and thus state that the market was wrong. I did however suggest that he was the one I was most likely going to side with. I generally don't make up my mind until I look at the horses in the ring and particularly so in maidens. I thought the AOB runner looked a potential stayer while the more precocious looking Oxx runner caught the eye quite nicely. At this point Athens was 4/6 and I saw 7/2 in a place on Akeed before it shortened near the off. In a likely two horse race the market looked to be very much lopsided which I stated to someone in the ring before the off. Unfortunately I don't place too much mass in my occasional musings on an anonymous forum as it don't pay the bills so I didn't think of grabbing an iPad off one of the Irish Racing Services lads and doing a live reporter update.

I hate to sound like a pr1ck but in nearly all 11 runner maidens where they bet 4-6 and 7-2 the front two, the market is lopsided.

Athens was dead in the morning - everyone knew that and the lemmings still piled onto him on course, on course lads couldn't get enough of him and the punters were stung

you sound shrood when you're drunk

Obviously from a purely odds point of view those prices were lopsided Rowley Mile. However I was making the point that the prices available oncourse a few minutes before the off weren't a fair reflection of their relative chances and they should have been much closer together in the betting. The actual result if anything is irrelevant in this case as my point is based on pre-race pricing. It's obviously going to sound like aftertiming but take Backbench Blues today who went off a similar price with the next best favored by the market a 9/2 shot. He again cornered the ring but his case was probably more clear cut than Athens (i.e. well regarded form horse in race against seemingly more exposed/handicap types and the only newcomer from a biggish yard was friendless in ring).

wmfb , what is wrong with Dubawi as a sire ?

Aside from having the best possible start to his career at stud ^^^
I was going to take him up on it but what`s the point!?


Since the start of the Pattern in 1971 no other stallion has made a more instant impact at stud than Dubawi. In two years, his first two crops garnered 11 Group winners, with his outstanding 2,000 Guineas-winning son Makfi in the vanguard.

In 2009 and 2010 he boasted a Stakes winners to runners ratio of 10.6%, with Shamardal on 9.9%, Oasis Dream 9.7%, Galileo 9.5% and Sadler’s Wells 9.3%. His highest achievers are his seven Group or Grade One winners in Britain, America, Australia, France, Germany, South Africa and Hong Kong: Makfi, Poet’s Voice, Dubawi Heights, Secret Admirer, Waldpark, Happy Archer and Lucky Nine (formerly known as Luck Or Design).

Much has been made of the success of the Dubawi - Green Desert cross, and indeed Makfi and Lucky Nine are both out of Green Desert mares, as is dual 2,000 Guineas runner-up Dubawi Gold and Listed winner Zubbaya, while Poet’s Voice is out of a mare by another Danzig stallion, Chief’s Crown.

Rahy mares have also produced some notable performers by Dubawi, with Worthadd, his dual Italian Classic winner and Lockinge Stakes runner-up, and Havane Smoker, runner-up in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains.

Nothing wrong with Dubawi as a sire but as i flagged up Akeed Mofeed as a Derby winner the question of stamina comes into it.I think he will stay as he looks like a stayer and there is stamina on the dams side but its not clear cut.Dubawi was a miler he didnt stay the mile and a half when he went to Epsom just like his own sire Dubai Millennium.Dubawi has had a good start to his stud career but most of them are milers,i am not sure whether he is getting any stayers but would welcome any information in that regard.

nice to see some good stuff posted here. It makes a change. I have long migrated to other sites where, if you post your opinion, you won't be hung, drawn and quartered.

Fwiw wildman I thought allduck added nicely to your original (excellent) post. No need for parsing every sentence to within an inch of it's life and I get the feeling you want to win the "mine is bigger" competition. Be a little more tolerant please and you just might lead the revival of the racing side of things here to something many might return for.

Apart from that, well done!

Fair comment RoyalAcademy.I stumbled on this forum late in life and probably am naive in the way i write.I am just used to people giving opinions and arguing their point robustly,i never personally fall out with people who have different views but it does cause problems for others.

Good thread. It's remarkable that only Coral have quoted a price (25/1) on Akeed Nofeed for the Derby. I also find it odd that the winner of the maiden in York that Athens ran in (Rugged Cross trained by Henry Candy) is not quoted at all. Camelot on the other hand, an APOB talking horse, that has no form whatsoever in the book is 16/1. No thought goes into the pricing of these markets at this stage.

He did fairly piss up though in fairness.

He beat All Approved rated 76 by 2 lengths and two stalemates well held since further back. He's a complete talking horse for the time being.

Yes, you're right of course, visually it was taking enough though I thought, I don't even think he was shaken up at all if I remember, value for more and that. I think he is their RP trophy horse myself, not dissimilar to St Nick who travelled really easy as a 2yo as well, I realise I'm reading all this from a nothing race, but I remember a stoute filly being single figures for the Oaks when she had only broke her maiden at Sandown a month before against 70 rated yaks, she was stuffed of course. I can forgive the lack of opposition at this stage anyway.

A very enjoyable day was had at the South Dublin venue. A nice crowd turned up on what was a very pleasant evening. All the big shots were in attendance too.

Race 1) Silver Sycamore (8/1) Only got to see the closing stages of this race in the Laddy shop in Stillorgan as was watching the incredible Haydock Betfred Sprint. The winner seemed to have had first run on the well backed jolly Oh So Lucy (7/4f) who came out of the pack to bag second. Some people at the Leop said it wasn't one of Johnny's better rides.

Race 2) Akeed Mofeed (11/4) Well touted on here this one won with it's head in his chest. The well backed jolly Athens (4/6f) could only plug on at the one pace. As a backer of most jolly's when racing I got lucky as I was trying to get rid of the second ticket I got as part of the City Deal at the entrance and only got in as the race was just off.

Race 3) Rock And Roll Kid (16/1) Didn't realise he was even in the race till after he passed the post. Danny Mullins is a most underrated jockey and showed admirable strength here. I think he can go all the way to the top in the NH game if he put's his mind to it. Napa Starr (4/1f)according to a few at the track had other day's in mind.

Race 4) Galileo's Choice (13/2) Another surprise as this one proved his versatility under a very positive ride by Pat Smullen. A typical Weld horse, hurdler, Havasnack and now a Group 3. Viscount Nelson (13/8f)     found to be blowing hard post race was beaten far too early. Mind you I wasn't impressed with him in the paddock but still backed him with Laddies on track as there didn't seem an alternative.

Race 5) Emulous (9/2) Well backed 11/2 available am. This filly ran a brilliant race sweeping up from last to first to win impressively. All options now are open for this filly at the very highest level. It's a pity that Frankel is in the same ownership. Again Weld showed that he is a completley different trainer to O'Brien with the patience he showed with this filly. Misty For Me (6/4f) tried to make all which was extraordinary in a Group 1 race. After race chat was that the Coolmore boys wanted more a Group 1 success for Together who has been placed in a string of group 1's. Wild Wind got no run from the back. The suggestion at the track was that young O'Brien can't ride a waiting race but I wouldn't have that.

Race 6) Below Zero (4/1f) Fran Berry rode a peach of a race by taking advantage of his LOW DRAW to pinch a useful lead which he never relinquished.

Race 7) So You Think (1/4f) Very skinny, Seamie showed that he is as good as any when he rode the perfect race to take it up on the turn in to hod the courageous filly Snow Fairy in what once again could be called the race of the season in Ireland.

Race 8) Gold Plated (20/1) I don't like 8 races esp if it is a handicap so didn't partake. I did lay the jolly Mohedian Lady (3/1f)for small money as IMHO it was backed in too short and had a HIGH DRAW. It ran accordingly around the houses with the result that it never threatened at the business.

Nice write up. Why would you back favourites when your racing and lay them when your not?

Tradefair, I do absolutely no homework during the week. Also there wouldn't be mega money in my account to lay outsiders. I find that there is no value to be had by backing favs in the morning which is when I lay them. More often than not a fav will not be punted. It's the 7/1 and 8/1 shots that get punted and win and you are in the dog house. I only laid one winner tonight at 5/1 which was the longest one I laid tonight. That's just my luck as I lay them all to level stakes.
When racing I tend to back the favs but NOT all the time. I just feel at the end of the day I might get lucky. On track I am known as a whisper merchant. I lap everyting up and sometimes get lucky like Castlebar Sling at 40/1 in the Cambridgeshire last week after a whisper.
At the Leop yesterday I chose wrong and backed Jamesie maybe a BAD DRAW and not the jolly Below Zero. GOOD DRAW (4/1f)
In my last race punting yesterday I hadn't backed a winner and decided at 1/4f So You Think wouldn't recover much losses so backed Snow Fairy at 2.46 on here without. Just got lucky there didn't get out but took the sting out of the day.

Chap admits backing a loser in the first and you're trying to give him a hard time ?

Rowley Mile - It was a reasonable question to ask and he gave a very good reply which answered my question.

Soapp - Thanks for the reply

Nice review Soapp

For wmfb.
Dubawis progeny statistics.

2000 TO DATE    WINS    RUNS    %    2ND    3RD    £ PRIZE
Worldwide G1     7     57     12     10     3     1,454,691
Euro Stakes     41     230     18     27     23     2,562,018

1988 TO DATE    WINS    RUNS    %    2ND    3RD    £ PRIZE
Flat     136     863     16     103     89     1,701,425
All-weather     48     235     20     34     22     174,249
Jumps     7     28     25     3     2     24,196
First Crop     32     229     14     28     31     251,910
2yo     65     427     15     51     54     513,828
5-6f     55     359     15     45     39     468,135
7-9f     92     565     16     67     62     1,023,755
10-11f     19     83     23     13     2     153,194
12-13f     13     59     22     8     7     218,170
14f+     5     32     16     4     1     12,421
Heavy     4     11     36     1     1     30,149
Soft     14     73     19     9     4     202,011
Gd-sft     20     124     16     9     21     324,328
Good     41     318     13     33     28     341,779
Gd-fm     65     360     18     54     37     830,887

Statistics are for GB and Ireland unless otherwise stated

Giant Strides thanks for the information hope i am reading it right.Seems he has a higher percentage in the ten and twelve furlong races which is the opposite of my own thoughts.In all my racing thoughts i rely on memory and gut feeling which can go spectacularly wrong,i have no memory of Dubawi siring stayers.Again if i am reading it right there are no stamina doubts about Akeed Mofeed,if am reading it wrong please enlighten me also do you think there will be stamina doubts.One other thing how come 1988 is at the top of the figures thats way before Dubawis time.

This isn't an original question but can anyone tell me why the Curragh seems to be the only track to change the stalls numbering system with low numbers now on the left. I know it's to do with international standards but why the ONLY one? It seems ludy-chris!

I got them from the RP and I think the 1988 thing is where all their bloodstock stats begin.
I`ll get back to you on the other thing when I have a little time.

TTT