Band Of Outlaws

Band Of Outlaws put up a good performance to finish fourth in the one-mile-six-furlong handicap at The Curragh last Friday on his first run in almost a year. Settled nicely towards the rear of the field early on by Shane Crosse and along the inside, he travelled well into the home straight and, while the leaders got away from him a little when they quickened, he kept on well on the far side to finish fourth. He was beaten by six lengths by the winner Dame Rapide, but the first four were clear, he was over four lengths ahead of the fifth horse.

It was a really encouraging run by Joseph O’Brien’s horse on his first run since he finished sixth in the Grade 3 Grimes Hurdle at Tipperary last July, and it was his first run on the flat since he finished third in a one-mile handicap at Naas last May. He is obviously a high-class hurdler, he won the Fred Winter Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2019 and he finished a close-up third in the Galway Hurdle four and a half months later. He will be of interest if he goes for the Galway Hurdle again this year, he is rated 1lb lower now than he was in 2019. He would be of greater interest if he were to run next on the flat, in a good handicap at any distance between a mile and a half and two miles. He has a rating on the flat of 88, 56lb lower than his hurdles mark and 6lb lower than his peak.
The Curragh, 20^th May 2022