Bellewstown preview Ask Vic puts her unbeaten record on the line in the Panda Hurdle on the third and final day of the July Festival at Bellewstown. The Willie Mullins-trained mare ran away with a Kilbeggan bumper on her racecourse debut last September and showed a good attitude to make a winning start to her jumping career at Listowel a month ago. The form was given a boost when the experienced runner-up Hell Cat Maggie belatedly opened her hurdling account at Clonmel on her next start, and connections of Ask Vic are hopeful she can complete the hat-trick this weekend. Steve Massey, racing manager for the owners Supreme Horse Racing, said: "It's a lovely little race and Bellewstown is a super track for summer racing. It's really popular with the local community. "We've had a bit of luck at Bellewstown in the past, with Pique Sous winning a bumper there a couple of years ago. "Ask Vic is a really nice, tough mare who was bred by Willie's mum. She's by Old Vic and is a half-sister to The Hurl, who was quite a smart horse a few years ago. She's won a bumper and a maiden hurdle so far and hopefully she's still improving. "I think she'll probably have to improve to win this race, but we're hopeful she will. She's a real top-of-the-ground mare, so hopefully the rain stays away." Ask Vic is set to tackle seven rivals over two and a half miles in County Louth, among them Aidan O'Brien's Shield, who returns to action having been disqualified at Wexford last month after jockey Robbie Power weighed in light. The five-year-old passed the post in front, but it was discovered afterwards he had raced without his lead saddlecloth and he was therefore placed last by the stewards. Dermot Weld's Daffern Seal makes his first competitive appearance since finishing sixth in the National Hunt Chase at the 2012 Cheltenham Festival. Tony Mullins' Bishopslough and Gordon Elliott's Clara McCloud also feature in an intriguing contest. A long-standing event at Bellewstown, the Seamus Mulvaney Crockafotha Handicap Hurdle, takes centre stage on the all-jumps eight-race card. Fresh from another successful sojourn to Perth, Gordon Elliott is double-handed and will likely have high hopes for Vasco Du Mee, who was victorious at the Scottish venue on his last run, back on June 8. A half-brother to the stable's standard-bearer Roi Du Mee, the selection was breaking his maiden when scoring very easily and now the five-year-old has the winning habit he looks the one to be on. The Martinstown Opportunity Handicap Hurdle has split and in division one Desert Roe has plenty in his favour under the more than capable Liam McKenna. Philip Fenton's charge would not want the ground to deteriorate too much and be that the case he is worth an each-way wager. The concluding McLoughlin Oil Flat Race sees five previous winners clash and maybe Totally Dominant will prevail.
