chased leader in 2nd, improved to lead entering straight, clear before last, ridden briefly run-in, easily
chased leaders in 3rd, ridden 3 out, soon dropped to rear and no extra
led, slight mistake 4th, ridden and headed entering straight, no extra before last, dropped to 3rd run-in
held up in rear, ridden 4 out, 3rd and no impression leaders after 3 out, kept on one pace to 2nd run-in
Gold Patrol won a novices' handicap at Tramore then ran well at Leopardstown despite a 10lb hike in the weights. He'll go well despite having to concede weight all round. Willie Mullins had five of the original dozen entries and relies on Clondaw Court, a wide-margin winner in a point-to-point and a bumper before scrambling home in a Leopardstown maiden on his hurdling debut. FESTIVE FELON looks the one to be on, however, as he showed the benefit of his debut run in a bumper with a battling performance to beat the odds-on Don Poli at Navan where he stayed on very gamely. Giantofaman had been making steady progress before staying on to catch Urano over the minimum trip on this track and should benefit from the extra and Horendus Hulabaloo looked well suited by very testing ground at Limerick.
Clondaw Court (IRE) 2-9fav (11-12) Tracked leaders in 4th, closer 2 out, ridden in 3rd and no impression early straight, progress into 2nd when not fluent last, kept on under pressure run-in to lead final strides,, won at Leopardstown 2m 2f mdn hdl sft in Dec beating Little Rocky (11-12) by hd, 6 ran.
Festive Felon (IRE) 8-1 (11-12) Tracked leaders, pushed along to lead after 3 out, ridden and strongly pressed next, jumped slightly right at last, edged slightly right run-in, stayed on well under pressure, won at Navan 2m 4f mdn hdl sft in Dec beating Don Poli (11-8) by 1/2l, 17 ran.
Giantofaman (IRE) 4-1 (11-4) Led, clear briefly 2nd, challenged 2 out and soon headed, led again last and kept on well run-in,, won at Thurles 2m mdn hdl in Nov beating Urano (11-12) by 1 1/4l, 18 ran.
Horendus Hulabaloo (IRE) 6-4fav (11-8) Tracked leaders, on terms approaching straight, led before 2 out, narrow leader and strongly pressed last, stayed on well run-in to just hold on, won at Limerick 2m 6f mdn hdl hvy in Dec beating Feenakilmeedy (11-5) by 1/2l, 17 ran.
Gold Patrol (IRE) 16-1 (10-6) Tracked leaders, 8th halfway, progress 2 out and 2nd entering straight, ridden in 4th before last and no extra run-in, 4th of 21, 7l behind Courage (10-1) at Leopardstown 3m hcp hdl sft in Dec.
