Bolger To Weave Magic At Chantilly

Arc weekend gets underway at Chantilly Saturday and there’s plenty of good action in store ahead of the big one on Sunday including some promising Irish contenders. And one of those looks to have a very good chance.

Bolger to Weave Some Magic
Moonlight Magic ran in the Irish Champion Stakes as a 50/1 shot and despite his odds he ran a reasonable race finishing six lengths adrift of Almanzor. There’s no 50/1 about for Moonlight Magic on Saturday but 11/4 could prove a good bet for him to claim the Prix Daniel Wildenstein.

Dropping back to a mile is an interesting move from the trainer given that his best form seems to be over two-furlongs further. Course and distance winner Dicton will be the obvious danger but Moonlight Magic is picked to cope with the drop in trip and class and make a mark for the Irish on the opening day.

Growl To Go One Better
Second in the Ayr Gold Cup, Growl is picked to go one better this time around in the Totescoop6 Challenge Cup at Ascot on Saturday.

Richard Fahey’s four-year-old stayed on without ever troubling the winner a fortnight ago but the step up to seven-furlongs will do him no harm.

The effort behind Brando looks solid enough form for him to make his mark.

At the top of the betting Librisa Breeze, a course and distance winner earlier in the season, and John Gosden’s Remarkable, both warrant respect but Growl has been a consistent figure in some decent handicaps this season and he deserves to get his head back in front under Graham Lee and the best priced 12/1 on offer with BoyleSports looks to be one of the picks of the weekend.

Faith In Thomond To Be Justified
Noel Meade and owner Patricia Hunt have had to be patient with Thomond as the horse missed almost two years since finishing fourth in a valuable handicap at Fairyhouse but he may be able to repay some of that faith at Gowran Park tomorrow.

The eight-year-old returned at Listowel for his first run and given the conditions and his lengthy lay off that run was a creditable one as he went down to Curragh Golan by 10-lengths, fading in the straight but not having an overly hard race.

The first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth from that Listowel race all take each other on again but it is Thomond, who was once rated 123 and now runs off 116, that could be open to most improvement and may prove hard to beat on a bit of nicer ground with more match fitness on his side now.

Recommended Bets:
Growl – 3:40 Ascot
Moonlight Magic – 4:12 Chantilly
Thomond – 4:55 Gowran Park

*Prices correct at time of publication.