Kingdom Could Come Good At Fairyhouse

Political Quiz ran a funny sort of race at Kempton. I thought he travelled very well for quite a long way, and a few furlongs out he seemed to be angling into position to make a challenge. However, when push came to shove he found disappointingly little and like many of Tom Symonds' recent runners he didn't finish his race off. I was worried about the form of the yard prior to the race and those fears unfortunately proved to be well founded. However, I have my eye on another horse at Fairyhouse on Wednesday and hopefully he can run a better race for us.

Mountain Kingdom is a beautifully bred 5yo son of Montjeu but as of yet he hasn't lived up to his blue blooded pedigree. Formerly trained in England by Sir Mark Prescott, he is now in the care of shrewd Louth handler John Larkin. His Green Desert dam was of little account, but she is a half sister to no less than five black type performers on the level, including Irish 2000 Guineas and Derby winner Desert King, Group 3 winner Cairdeas and multiple Group 3 placed Chianti. Mountain Kingdom has yet to scale those heights but he has plenty of time on his side as a 5yo.

He makes his handicap debut in the 2m hurdle at 17.25 tomorrow and he has been handed a mark of just 100. He has had three runs over timber, and the first of those over course and distance (good to yielding) was a cracking effort. He travelled like the best horse in the race and Barry Geraghty had to get pretty serious on eventual 3L winner Squouateur. That gelding went on to score in his first two handicaps  off marks of 120 and 127, and he was sent off fav for the Martin pipe at the festival where he finished 7th off a mark of 141.

Now admittedly Mountain Kingdom was getting 3lbs in weight off the winner that day, but it was a super first effort over hurdles and it would suggest that his mark of 100 could well be within reach. He has obviously been awarded that mark on the back of  his next two runs over timber, when he was beaten a combined distance of 119L. However, the ground was bottomless for those two efforts and that was never going to suit.

His best efforts on the flat have come with a slight ease in the ground, and he showed he has the stamina for this game with a game effort over 14f on good to soft at Yarmouth when he was with the Prescott yard. He produced a couple of decent efforts at Dundalk after moving to his new yard, but his best run by a long way came last summer at Galway (12f). He was returning from a 104 day break on that occasion and he ran a cracker in 5th on good to yielding ground, just 3L behind the winner.

The ground is currently described as soft at Fairyhouse but it has been dry in this part of the world for the last couple of days and there is no rain forecast between now and the start of racing. I think it will be improving all the time and it would be no surprise to see yielding in the description tomorrow. That will suit Mountain Kingdom perfectly, and his 116 day absence is not a worry as he showed when running so well at Galway. Quality 3lb claimer Ger Fox takes off 3lb so he effectively races off a mark of 97. That could turn out to underestimate him over timber and if he can repeat his debut effort here he could go close at odds of 25/1.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 5.25 FAIRYHOUSE-MOUNTAIN KINGDOM E/W 25/1