Call It Magic

Call It Magic ran a cracker in the Irish National. He only finished seventh of the eight finishers in the end, and he was beaten 14l by the winner General Principle, but he ran much better than that suggests.

Ross O'Sullivan's horse travelled and jumped really well the whole way for Andrew Lynch, and he travelled as well as any of his rivals across the top of the track, over the fourth last fence. His stamina just ebbed from the top of the home straight on the ground, and he just kept on to finish seventh.

It was a fine run from an eight-year-old who was racing for just the 10th time over fences. He does handle soft ground, but the combination of the very soft ground and the distance probably stretched his stamina beyond its limit. He jumped a little to his left here too, as he had done before, so, even though a lot of his big runs have been at right-handed tracks - two of his three wins over fences have been at right-handed tracks - he might do even better at a left-handed track.  He could be a horse for a big staying handicap chase at a left-handed track next season, possibly the Paddy Power Chase, and he could be an Aintree National horse at some point in the future.

Fairyhouse, 2nd April 2018

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