It might not be Chicago, or even Dusseldorf, but what Roscommon's bread and butter fixture can provide Eddie Ahern with tonight is a winner in the shape of Palace Royale.
The jockey had a dizzying weekend criss-crossing the Atlantic to ride Pine Dance in a fruitless tilt at the Secretariat Stakes and then jetting to Germany for a similarly frustrating experience on Margay in a Listed race yesterday.
A three runner EBF Race provides its own tactical demands but as befits a filly from the family of Sun Princess and Saddlers Hall, Palace Royale appears to be in her element over a mile and a half.
She proved that when running Grand Finale to half a length in a Listed event at Leopardstown eight days ago and it's that stamina that can give her the edge over the course winner Insenor although Morning Breeze's chance cannot be totally discounted either.
Insenor's rider John Murtagh can score in the maiden however now that his mount Shayadi is upped in trip again. He was well beaten by Colourfal Cast last time over seven but ran second to the decent Lammas on his debut and did OK in the Sinndar pacemaking role last May.
The prices of those two flat runners are likely to be cramped but an each way working man's option in the handicap hurdle looks to be Mission Valley Boy.
Significantly Barry Geraghty takes the ride on the horse who looked to be going as well as anything before the dip in the Galway maiden hurdle won by Tango Pasion. He ultimately filled the same pos-tion as he did behind Fnan in May but back in handicap class Mission Valley Boy looks to hold a decent chance.
The form of Rightontime's Galway bumper victory has been boosted by the subsequent win of the runner-up Clear Move and Christy Roche's horse looks hard to oppose in this evening's bumper while another that fits the hard to oppose category is McCracken in the first.
