It looks significant that Wayne Lordan partners Mother Nature in the Give Thanks Stakes at Cork on Friday evening and the Justify filly may prove the pick in the Group Three contest.
She clearly has plenty of ability but didn’t look the most straightforward when denied by narrow margins on her first couple of outings in maidens.
To be fair that form has worked out well since with Grateful, who beat her in the Curragh, going on to win at this level in Fairyhouse.
When she was pitched into Listed company on her third outing she actually ran well for a long way before fading a touch in the closing stages.
Stepping back up in trip last time she ran out a cosy winner of a Killarney maiden and that win under her belt should have given her plenty of confidence.
There still looks untapped potential in her and like a lot of the Ballydoyle fillies she may improve again with racing.
This race has an open enough look to it and is competitive with three triple-figure fillies in the line-up.
Top rated is the Dermot Weld-trained Shamida but she probably needs a bit further than this to be seen at her best.
La Isla Mujeres could be the main danger after a nice win at Roscommon early last month.
Like the selection, we probably haven’t seen the best of her yet and she is capable of making a mark at stakes level.
Dancing Tango is a consistent sort at this level and is another that has to be on the shortlist, along with the selection’s stablemate Lily Hart, who was fourth in the aforementioned Fairyhouse Group Three behind Grateful.
It’s hard to draw a line through any of these but Mother Nature gets the vote to step forward again after her maiden win.
In the Listed Platinum Stakes earlier on the card the Joseph O’Brien-trained Jumbly could prove the answer to another tricky looking contest.
Both the Gleneagles filly’s runs have come on soft ground this season and this livelier surface may be more suitable.
She won a Group Three on good to firm ground at Ascot a couple of years ago and sets the standard here off her mark of 102.
In the opening two-year-old maiden, Magnum Force looks the one to beat on his second start.
He was well touted before his debut at Naas last month but was no match for big priced winner Diego Ventura. That probably wasn’t a bad maiden and he can go one better now.
SELECTIONS
4.15 Magnum Force
4.50 I’m Spartacus
5.22 Jumbly (Dbl)
5.52 Kailasa
6.22 Mother Nature (Nap)
6.57 Elana Osario
7.32 Spring Collection
8.07 Jack Spriggins
