Nurburgring

Nurburgring did well to stay on as well as he did to finish fourth in the Petingo Handicap at Leopardstown on Saturday. This was a race in which the prominent racers dominated. The winner Fighter, who would be deserving of his place in Group company now on this evidence, made all the running, while the second and third, Chemistry and Eagle’s Way, raced in second and third places respectively from early.

Slowly into stride, Nurburgring was well back in the field early on, when it looked like he was going as fast as he wanted to go. Still only 16th or 17th of the 22 runners as they turned for home, rider Dylan Browne McMonagle took him to the outside, and he stayed on best of all through the final two furlongs to take fourth place. In another couple of strides he would have been third.

An impressive winner of the Galway Hurdle last month, Joseph O’Brien’s horse remains wholly unexposed now on the flat. A rating of 150 over hurdles suggests that he could have at least a little bit of leeway in a mark of 91 on the flat, up 1lb for Saturday’s run. He holds an entry in the Irish Cesarewitch at The Curragh at the end of this month, and he will be of interest if he runs in that race. He should appreciate the greater test of stamina that that contest would present.

Leopardstown, 14th September 2024
© Sportinglife.com 17th September 2024