Early-season handicaps at the Curragh are rarely straightforward and this 12-runner sprint looks typically competitive. Heavy ground and returning horses add another layer of uncertainty, but the pace setup gives us a useful starting point.
HorseRaceBase identifies Smoke Them Out as the likely lone front runner. He’s a previous course-and-distance winner and could get the rail and attempt to dictate. However, the overall pace pressure rating suggests the tempo should still be solid with several prominent racers sitting just behind the leader.
That scenario often produces a race where the winner comes from just off the pace rather than from the very back. Timeform’s track note reinforces that point – hold-up horses don’t usually have things their own way over six furlongs here, even when the gallop looks strong.
Several runners arrive with credible claims.
Winemaker is interesting off a basement mark and arrives in form after a Dundalk win earlier this year. He’s clearly well handicapped if transferring that form back to turf, though his hold-up style could leave him with plenty to do in the closing stages.
Mickey The Steel is a familiar Curragh handicapper who handles testing conditions well and usually runs his race. The return of cheekpieces and a useful 3lb claim help, though he often finds one or two stronger at the finish.
Smoke Them Out, the probable pace angle, cannot be dismissed given his course record, but he has a habit of weakening late when pressure arrives.
The most interesting runner in the field is Go Out. Since joining Daniel Murphy he has taken a clear step forward, finishing runner-up on three consecutive starts before his latest run at Dundalk where he met trouble at a key stage and never recovered. That effort is easy to forgive.
He now makes his turf debut for the yard from a workable mark and his running style – sitting just behind the pace before finishing strongly – looks well suited to how this race should unfold.
In a race where many have questions to answer, Go Out looks the runner with the most upside and the right tactical profile to capitalise if the pace unfolds as expected.
Selection: GO OUT
Bombproof rating: Medium.