Black Bamboo

Black Bamboo was sent off a long odds-on shot for the two-and-a-half-mile maiden hurdle at Cork on Sunday, but there was a lot to like about the performance that he put up in winning it. He travelled really well throughout his race in mid-division, and his jumping was good. He was particularly fluent and accurate over each of the last three hurdles, when the pace was at its strongest, and that was likeable. He led at the second last flight and went on to win easily, just punched out by Michael O’Sullivan, and the time was good, the fastest comparative time of the day.

John Murphy’s horse is nicely progressive now. He probably didn’t fully see out the two-mile-seven-furlong trip at Killarney last time, when he finished a close-up fifth in a race from which the first, second and fourth have all since come out and won. This was much more like his trip, and he should be able to build on this now. This was just his fifth run over hurdles and, while he is obviously still a novice, he would be interesting too in a handicap off a handicap rating of 121, should connections choose to go down that route.

Cork, 15^th October 2023