RACING:REALT DUBH can light up the start of Galway's Bank Holiday fixtures tomorrow when the exciting prospect lines up for the Grade Three feature.
Noel Meade also saddles Darceys Dancer in the €31,500 Barna Waste Ballybrit Novice Chase, but Realt Dubh is his clear first-choice considering his impressive fencing debut at Navan last month.
Realt Dubh easily beat the Grade One bumper winner Sweeps Hill, as well as the high-class Venalmar, after which his trainer expressed the hope that he would be good enough to ultimately compete at the top level.
If those hopes are to continue then Realt Dubh should be up to winning a Grade Three against the Ballinrobe winner Head Of The Posse.
Kerry trainer Tom Cooper also expressed big hopes when The Shepherd King won his bumper at Listowel last month after heavy market support.
As expected, Cooper sends the former point-to-point winner straight over jumps in a maiden hurdle tomorrow and he could get the better of the more experienced Start Me Up.
Cooper’s son Bryan also rides Asiya in the two-and-a-half-mile novice hurdle, and the four-year-old gets a lot of weight from the unbeaten Askanna.
Asiya found only Big Occasion too good on the flat at the Curragh last time and had placed form over flights at Sligo before that.
Final Approach will appreciate any rain that falls this weekend, and the Downpatrick maiden winner can have a successful third spin over hurdles in the two-mile handicap.
Wexford’s Sunday feature is the €17,000 handicap chase which could see Clarkey resume winning ways if ground conditions ease. The Limerick and Listowel winner didn’t fire on faster going at Punchestown last time out.
Christy Roche can also land the Opportunity Handicap Hurdle with the bang-in-form Green To Gold. The grey has risen significantly in the weights on the back of wins at Punchestown and Cork but should still be hard to beat.
