Looking Back 28/10 (DK)

Last weekend in Ireland we saw some very noteworthy performances.

Naas held the better quality of the two Irish cards on Saturday. We saw Catch Me make his hurdling debut, and even though he was sketchy at some flights, he had the pace about him to end this contest in a matter of strides, and as Edward O'Grady pointed out, if it was to turn up soft at Cheltenham, he'd go for the Supreme, if not the RSA, but he is deemed to be better on soft ground, so that could be a dilemma for punters and connections alike.

Another RSA hope to run that day was Leading Run, and as pointed out, this was a better race than a looked, and it wasn't a shot out of the dark to see him get beat here. Excuses have since come about, never travelling and running flat the ones stated by trainer and jockey, but maybe he's just not a hurdler, and for now he has to have a serious question mark against him until he makes amends.

On the Chasing front at Naas, Southern Vic put up one hell of a performance over a trip that is far from ideal. OK, so on official ratings he had the beating of all of these, but giving weight over a trip that is arguably one mile of his best, he is one second season chaser I'd want to stay on the right side of up until Christmas. Another to take from that race is Lakil Princess. She would not have been at ease on ground this soft, and a return to a sounder surface, and if not going up in the weights, she could win a few races this year.

Over at Wexford, think the horse to take from the meet is the winner of the 1st, Hard Scuffle. On ground that was far from ideal, and hurdling which was far from perfect he still looked to be winning well in himself, and it'll be interesting where Meade decides to take him next. Another that was certainly worth a mention was a stablemate, Irish Nation. He's been running in decent races and was not winning out of turn, so once again Meade certainly has options for the rest of the season.

All in all I think the only plus on the Cheltenham front can be for Catch Me, the only negative is we just don't know which race he'll be aimed at.