Fools Glory

Fools Glory can be marked up at least a little on the bare form of the performance that she put up in finishing fifth behind Shimmerz and Veryhoyen in the seven-furlong handicap at The Curragh on Monday. It was a race in which it was probably an advantage to race handily and towards the far side. The runner-up was drawn in stall 16, but he was smartly away, as is his wont, and Joey Sheridan quickly had him going forward and moving to his right, over to the far side, where he led from early, with Shimmerz settling nicely behind him over there from her draw in stall two. The third and fourth also raced handily and towards the far side. Fools Glory, by contrast, raced towards the near side from stall 18, and she was well back in the field early on. Probably better over further, she was being niggled along by Scott McCullagh from half way. 13th or 14th of the 18 runners as they raced towards the two-furlong marker, she stuck to her task well on the near side, finishing off her race nicely to finish fifth, going to the line willingly and doing best of the horses who raced towards the near side.

Paul McEnery’s filly has just turned four, so there is plenty of potential upside to her. She was well beaten at Leopardstown on her seasonal return, but this was much more like it, competing over a distance that is probably short of her best. A dual winner last season on soft and heavy ground, she will be of interest again now when she steps up in trip, as long as the ground remains soft. She holds entries in the fillies’ handicap and in the nine-and-a-half-furlong handicap at Gowran Park next Wednesday, and she will be of interest if she lines up in either, back at the track at which she won a handicap on soft ground in October.
The Curragh, 1^st May 2023