A typically competitive Curragh sprint handicap, with the ground set to ride heavy after persistent rain. That will put the emphasis firmly on stamina and proven ability to handle testing conditions.
We reckon SMOKE THEM OUT is the one to be with. Tom McCourt’s charge has shown his best form when the mud is flying, notably winning here on soft and shaping well in similar conditions last autumn. He’s still not fully exposed as a soft-ground sprinter and looks to have more to offer now he’s found ideal conditions. The booking of Sam Coen for the Stamullen stable looks a positive, and he’s taken to come out on top.
Jon Riggens is a regular in big-field Curragh handicaps and should be thereabouts if getting the race run to suit his late-running style. While Mile End arrives in good form and has shaped as though a slog in the mud would suit.
If the song “Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside” could be sung by a horse, I reckon old DASHING DICK might give us a rendition, given his love of Norfolk’s second-best seaside town (if you’ve not been to Southwold, then you should. It’s lovely). He seems to save some of his best efforts when he’s got the sea air in his lungs, never out the frame in nine starts here and there’s a couple of other clues that today might be the day.
Firstly, a swapping of cheekpieces for blinkers, which his last couple of wins have come in, and some softer underfoot conditions, which he’ll enjoy better than a few here. In fact, he gave it a go from the front in soft ground in this very race last year, only succumbing in the latter stages to the younger legs of Dapper Valley, and he’s 5lb lower this time around. Expect similar tactics from Billy Loughnane today.
A return to the all-weather makes Pockley a bit more interesting than some recent uninspiring form figures might suggest. Two runs on turf in September were both well below par, but when taken into full context of a record of 0-37 on turf, with just a handful of placings to show for it, mean both runs can be taken as nothing more than something to keep him ticking over before a return to Tapeta, much his preferred surface.
Those runs also saw him drop another 3lb and he’s back on a much more workable mark than was the case after a successful time in the winter of last season, which saw him raised to a mark that was simply too high for him to work off. Blinkers go back on tonight too, which looks another positive, and it isn’t hard to see why a better effort might be forthcoming tonight.
Sadly, the double-figure price has long gone on him and he can be no more than a strong mention at this stage rather than a full bet. I’d back him at 8s and bigger each-way.
Preview posted 0940 BST on 20/10/25
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