Karkiyna

Karkiyna did better than the bare form of her run in the seven-furlong fillies’ maiden at The Curragh on Saturday suggests. In traffic from early towards the inside from her low draw, Ben Coen was struggling to find clear passage from a fair way out. Perfect Thunder and Toy engaged in a duel up front from the two-furlong marker, at which stage Karkiyna was still in among traffic. She got out on the run to the furlong marker and, when she did, she finished off her race nicely to take fifth place, but she probably would have been at least a little closer if she had been able to deliver her run earlier. She wasn’t stopped in her run or anything, she wasn’t an unlucky loser, but she was trying to make progress among traffic until she got to the furlong marker.

Johnny Murtagh’s filly had more experience than most of her rivals going into this maiden, but it was still just her sixth run, and it was her seasonal return, her first run as a three-year-old, so she still has plenty of potential to progress. Second in a six-furlong maiden at Naas last September, and this in another six-furlong maiden at Naas in October, she saw out the seven furlongs well here. A half-sister to one-mile winner Karakour and to Kartayaz, a dual winner over 10 and a half furlongs, she could step up to a mile too. She has a rating of 80, and she would be of interest too in a handicap off that mark should connections choose to go down that route.
The Curragh, 26^th March 2022