We’re used to seeing Irish raiders on these shores but they tend to be attracted by the bigger meeting. It is perhaps significant that Michael O’Callaghan sends just one runner to Newbury for a run of the mill meeting on Thursday. There are plenty of two-year-old maidens in Ireland so it’s interesting that they are sending one on a 772-mile round trip. Rising fuel costs are a huge issue for trainers so he’ll be hoping that this is a profitable excursion. When O’Callaghan sent a solo runner on a raid to Britain in May, he was only narrowly denied at Sandown. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Olivia Maralda is a very classy maiden and it’s just a matter of time before she gets off the mark. She was far from disgraced when seventh in the Queen Mary last time out. Her debut effort over 6f showed plenty of promise and she was only narrowly denied. The form of that win has been boosted by the third winning impressively next time.
There was certainly no disgrace in her second to the very smart Statuette on her second start. That filly is now a Group 2 winner and could go all the way. History may well prove that being beaten three lengths by Statuette is very strong form indeed.
Olivia Maralda would be unfortunate to bump into a rival of that calibre here and the step up to 7f could prove shrewd. As she came closest to winning on her sole start over 6f, this new trip could unlock some improvement. The stage looks set for this classy type to finally break her maiden tag.
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