You would think Ryan Moore had done the rounds in Ireland, being Aidan O’Brien’s premier jockey. Rather interestingly, he has only ridden at eight tracks in Ireland. A ninth track is set to be added to the list on Tuesday however. Moore travels to Roscommon on Tuesday for his first ride at the track. The horse in question goes in the feature race of the day for regular boss Aidan O’Brien. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Espionage (11-8, William Hill) put in a solid performance to finish second behind a stablemate at Galway in September, keeping on very nicely over an extended mile. He made no mistake over 7f at the Curragh next time and justified favouritism in good style. O’Brien’s colt finished second by a narrow margin in Group 1 company at Saint-Cloud when last seen.
This is Espionage’s seasonal debut and his first start at three. His pedigree is absolutely fantastic and strongly indicates that the step up to an extended 1m3f is a huge positive. Espionage is by the great Galileo and out of a Ribblesdale Stakes winner, suggesting he’s bred to excel over middle-distances. Certainly not the toughest of Listed events, this looks like a great opportunity to make a winning start to the season.
It’s likely that he would have strengthened up over the summer and he should be a much better three-year-old. This is certainly an interesting prospect and the fact that Ryan Moore has been tempted into travelling over for just one ride on a Tuesday could be significant. That information could be a tip in itself and it indicates that connections are expecting him to be fit enough, despite a substantial 255-day absence.
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