Booking Of Robinson Catches The Eye On Shuil

Bilbo Bagins won in dramatic fashion for us earlier at Navan, and to be honest I thought that Flanagan had left him with too much to do. He proved me wrong, thankfully, and he timed his effort to perfection. Bilbo Bagins stayed on strongly up the Navan hill and justified heavy support by reeling in the favourite and prevailing by half a length. It gave us a long overdue win and finally the barren run is over.

Maurice Phelan is a shrewd operator.

Tomorrow I like the look of one off a feather weight at Leopardstown, and Shuil Teacht Aniar could be set to take a big step forward dropped back to 21f on just his third handicap start. Maurice Phelan has booked crack claimer Dylan Robinson for the ride, and his 4lb allowance means that Shuil Teacht Aniar gets to race off just 9st 10lbs.

This former point winner was pulled up on his handicap debut behind Larry Capri off a mark of 88, but he showed a bit more promise last time at Fairyhouse (24f hvy) off a pound lower. He was up there for a long way, and he only faded after a mistake three out. Until he made those couple of mistakes late on he had jumped very nicely, and his pedigree suggests 21f will suit too.

The lightly raced 8yo son of Allegoric won his point on soft (24f) so he should have no issues with the testing conditions at Leopardstown. His Good Thyne dam also won a point, and her sister Leos Shuil won five races in total, a bumper, two flat races and two hurdle races (22f and 20f). His dam’s half brother, also by Allegoric, won a heavy ground handicap hurdle (20f) so everything points towards the drop in trip being ideal.

Dylan Robinson has had plenty of success in both codes, and he has ridden plenty of winners for Henry De Bromhead over jumps. He has ridden three winners for Jim Bolger on the level, and anyone who rides for that yard has to possess a certain amount of natural ability. I reckon he will make plenty of use of Shuil Teacht Aniar, and hopefully he can get an easy lead. If he does, Shuil Teacht Aniar could make a bold bid, and he is worth chancing e/w  at odds of 20/1.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 16.40 LEOPARDSTOWN-SHUIL TEACHT ANIAR E/W @ 20/1