McCourt Can Continue Good Form At Gowran

What was a decent day for us at Ayr could have been even better if Sean Levey had ridden My Name Is Rio out all the way to the line. I am not one for being too critical of jockeys, as I have never sat on a horse in my life and I can only imagine how difficult it must be trying to control a beast moving at near 40mph in a field of 20+. However, It does my head in when jockeys don't ride all the way to the line, especially when the horse finishes out of the places by just over head.

My Name Is Rio probably even led briefly inside the final furlong, and he ran an absolute cracker. Another big eye-catcher was Flying Pursuit, and he wasn't beaten all that far despite giving away a lot of ground at the start. The Gold Cup was won by Brando, but at least G-Force rewarded each way support for us. Adrian Keatley will be delighted with his run, and there are surely more big days ahead with the former Sprint Cup winner. Tomorrow there are a couple of jumps meetings in the UK, but I am staying closer to home with a selection from Gowran Park.

Tom McCourt has his string in super nick at the moment, and he runs two in the 3.50 at Gowran, a 1m handicap. Eye Glass is the shorter of the two at 16s, but I prefer the chances of Magia Del Corso, a 5yo daughter of Holy Roman Emperor who has troubled the judge twice in her 8 race career. This mare only made her debut as a 4yo last April, and she didn't show much on her first three runs. She started off in handicaps off a mark of 57 over today's course and distance (gd), and she ran her best race yet to finish third, beaten just over 4L.

She proved that was no fluke next time, kept to the same trip at Leopardstown off 2lb lower, finishing third again behind Knights Templar, beaten just 2L on this occasion. She went off the boil for her next couple of runs at Bellewstown and Navan, and her mark plummeted to 48. Magia Del Corso headed to Tipperary (7.5f ylf/soft) for her seasonal comeback last month, and she showed plenty of promise under a tender ride from Ronan Whelan.

She was very slowly away out of the stalls, and Whelan didn't seem to be in much of a hurry as she quickly became detached from the pack. She was still a long way last after 3f, but she closed up to the pack as they rounded the home turn. She actually stayed on pretty well in the closing stages, and though she only finished 9th it was an encouraging seasonal comeback.

She returns to the scene of her handicap debut tomorrow, and she has been handed a lovely draw in stall 3. She was off 57 when she was beaten just over 4L last year, and she was rated 55 when beaten 2L at Leopardstown. Magia Del Corso runs off just 47 in this contest, 10lb lower than for her handicap debut.

The form of her yard is a huge positive too, as McCourt fired in a double during the week. She obviously needs to be a lot better from the gates tomorrow, and Whelan can't let her get too far behind early doors. However, she showed me enough last time at Tipperary, and on her first two handicap runs, that she has enough ability to win a race and hopefully that day is tomorrow. She looks well overpriced at 20/1, and she could well outrun those odds and reward each way support.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 3.50 GOWRAN: MAGIA DEL CORSO E/W 20/1