It’s hard to win maidens in Ireland if you’re not one of the big trainers and British maidens are often more competitive. Therefore, it’s easy to see why County Tipperary-based trainer Kevin Coleman is sending one horse over to Southwell on Thursday.
Whilst the 765-mile round trip will be a costly one, there are no Aidan O’Brien, Dermot Weld or Jessica Harrington runners in opposition which could make the difference. We’ve taken a look at his runner’s chances of getting off the mark below. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Shining River has had three starts to date and two of those have come on British shores. Beaten by half-a-length when third at Haydock on her penultimate start, she’s probably the one to beat on that form. She may well have finished even closer that day if not for a slow start and the two-year-old filly looks well up to winning races.
A mile looked a little beyond her when returning to Haydock next time and the fact that she was reportedly a little upset in the stalls wouldn’t have helped. Returning to 7f should suit and she has every chance of coming out on top, especially if she can get the hang of things at the start of her races.
Coleman has only had two runners at Southwell throughout his career and his only runner here in the last five seasons was a winner. One would imagine Shining River isn’t just coming over for a day out and it would be reasonable to expect a big performance.
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