Horses To Follow » Davids Charm

Davids Charm

Davids Charm looked a little unlucky in the two-mile handicap. Keen enough in mid-division early on behind a moderate pace that Ryan Moore was allowed to set on Legal Spin, he travelled really well into the home straight. Locked up on the rail with nowhere to go as they passed the two-furlong marker, Chris Hayes had no option but to sit and wait and hope that a gap would develop. Eventually a gap opened between the leader and Shakespear’sgalley, but it closed again before Davids Charm could move into it. In the end, he finished an unlucky-looking third, beaten a total of a just over a length. If the pace had been stronger, or if he had got a gap earlier, he would have gone even closer.

Nevertheless, it was a really encouraging run by John Joe Walsh’s horse, for whom Galway is surely a target now. He could only finish ninth in the Galway Hurdle last year, but he missed the break that day and he was wide the whole way. He proved that he could operate at Galway when he won a handicap hurdle at the 2017 festival. He is rated 143 over hurdles now, 1lb lower than he was last year, and he is obviously in good form. Also, he will be interesting if he runs on the flat at Galway, or the next time he runs on the flat, off his flat rating of 86.

The Curragh, 29th June 2019