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Punchestown 2024
Punchestown 2024
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- Curragh preview
Curragh preview
Your Pal Tal
© Photo Healy Racing
The evoke.ie Scurry Handicap sees the second, third and fourth from last year's renewal of the valuable sprint return to the Curragh for the large-field event. Your Pal Tal runner-up to Stroll Patrol 12 months back, must now compete from out of the handicap.
Silvestre de Sousa briefly takes his eye off the British jockeys' championship here, as he is over principally to partner Harlequeen in the Oaks, but Johnny Levins has also snapped him up for Your Pal Tal.
Third and fourth from 2015, In Salutem and Master Speaker are course and distance winners too. The former is something of a Navan specialist, but he only lost out by a nose here to Rattling Jewel on the eve of Derby weekend.
Ken Condon 's charge appreciates some ease in the ground, and the in-form six-year-old could get his optimum conditions.
No less than six British raiders will bid for glory, with Kevin Ryan fielding two - Kibaar (Tom Eaves) and Distant Past (Leigh Roche) - and another Irishman Richard Fahey sends over George Bowen (Declan McDonogh) from his North Yorkshire base.
The other challengers from across the Irish Sea are Spring Loaded (Paul D'Arcy and Pat Smullen), Perfect Pasture (Mick Easterby and Paul Mulrennan) and Fairway To Heaven (Michael Wigham and Rory Cleary).
Other UK handlers to focus their attentions on this Oaks day programme are David Evans and Brian Ellison. They target the Boodles Ladies Derby Handicap with Moojaned and Suitor respectively.
Ellison has booked Nina Carberry for Suitor, and he has to be viewed as a major contender.
Jessica and Kate Harrington, meanwhile, have Modem in the mix. The Motivator gelding has already been pencilled in for the Galway Hurdle and was just touched off over this course on Derby day last time.
Elsewhere, Gleneagles' brother Taj Mahal bids to atone for the fact that he bombed out when odds-on to make a winning debut over the track and trip last month. Ryan Moore is again on the Ballydoyle colt in the opener at 2.55.
Frankel has made an astounding start with his first runners and Lightening Fast represents him in this curtain-raiser.