Top dual purpose Irish trainer Jessica Harrington is launching a rare attack on Ayr Racecourse on Wednesday. She is sending one runner across the Irish Sea in an attempt to try to land the Listed feature race on the card at 3.20pm.
The British Stallion Studs EBF Rothesay Stakes has attracted some of the big names this year. Sir Michael Stoute and John & Thady Gosden are present, represented by A La Voile and Anastarsia.
Good weather has seen plenty of drying in the ground and as a result we can expect some good to firm ground on offer. Not many horses can handle lightning-fast ground so keep that in mind when looking through the form.
It is interesting that Jessica Harrington is pitching Astadash right in at the deep end on what is just her second start for the stable. She ran in some very hot maidens last season and finished off her year with an impressive deserving win at Dundalk under Chris Hayes.
She ran well on her first outing since leaving Kevin Prendergast after five months off the track last month. Showing a lot of pace down the back straight, she couldn’t maintain her effort on the home straight and finished 4th on handicap debut off 83.
What is also interesting is the fact that arguably her best run, which was on debut, was on good to firm ground. Sent off a 100-1 chance on that occasion, she came from near last to third in a matter of strides and was narrowly denied.
She has tonnes of pace and maybe the quicker conditions will bring out the best in her at Ayr. There is no denying that she has to improve markedly on what we have seen to date though.
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