Police Gazette
Police Gazette ran out an impressive winner of the first 10-and-a-half-furlong maiden at Dundalk on Sunday. Sent to the front from flagfall by Gavin Ryan, he had his five rivals well stretched out on the run to the end of the back straight. He came under a ride at the top of the home straight, but he found lots for pressure. He looked vulnerable on the run inside the two-furlong marker as the odds-on favourite Reynir closed on him, but he stretched his neck out willingly and came away from his rivals inside the final furlong, winning by almost four lengths in the end.
Third behind subsequent King George V Handicap third Believed over a mile and a half at Dundalk on his previous run, the slight drop down in trip here to 10 and a half furlongs seemed to suit Donnacha O'Brien's horse well. Gavin Ryan obviously had no worries about his stamina at the shortened trip, and he was positive on him from the start, a tactic that obviously suited Police Gazette. He wore a tongue-tie and blinkers here for the first time, replacing the cheekpieces that he wore on his racecourse debut, but he looks uncomplicated, and there is no denying his resolution. He didn't have an easy time on the front end either, he was almost four seconds faster to half-way than the winner Duvessa was in the fillies' maiden run over the same course and distance 35 minutes later. This was just his third run, he had bags of scope for further progression, and he will be of interest now, stepped up in grade. Interest will be heightened if he goes to The Curragh, a track at which his forward-going style of racing is usually an advantage.
Dundalk, 12th July 2026
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