GOLD CAN REIGNITE DERBY HOPES AT SHELBOURNE

Ian Fortune

Shelbourne Park will play host to a tremendous Friday night card this evening and for those watching carefully there could be a couple of Derby clues on offer with the feature, the final of the BOYLE Sports Derby Starting Soon A0 550 giving Bockos Gold another chance to return to his best early season form.

It doesn’t seem that long ago since the massive son of Coolavanny Hoffa was starring in the preliminary rounds in the Con & Annie Kirby Memorial. He started favourite for the final but ran out of luck, missing the kick before finishing at the tail of the field.

Remarkably in five subsequent starts, the Graham Holland trained star has yet to return to winning ways. It is further proof that a Kirby Memorial campaign can be tough on youngsters but there have been enough glimpses of his ability in recent starts to suggest he is going to return to his very best in the near future.

He will no doubt start a hot favourite for tonight’s €2,500 to the winner decider despite finishing almost eight lengths adrift in third in the semis. He again missed the start on that occasion before finding early traffic.

Tonight, the draw is very much in his favour. Perfectly positioned in three, he seems certain to race prominently into the bend and it could allow him to show his class. His handler recently intimated that he was coming back to himself and it’s hard to disagree.

Harlequin Gee Up is the most likely pace-setter from an inside draw but Bockos Gold would give him plenty to think about if starting on terms. Gaytime Joachim ran well to win his semi-final but would need a career best effort to worry his kennelmate Bockos Gold were the latter to find form.

Of the others, Town Lucky, Highview Air and Kilcolgan Eddie are all expected to stay on well but on this occasion, they may struggle to get involved. The time is right for Bockos Gold to send out a reminder of his brilliance and he can produce a far sharper display to re-establish himself as a leading hope for Derby glory.

SUMMIT TO COME OUT ON TOP

The final of the grireland.ie A2 is also part of the eight-race card and Highview Summit is selected to follow up his semi-final display to emerge on top at the expense of Blackstone Flash.

Highview Summit is relatively lightly raced for his age but his latest display is evidence that he is still progressive.

Coming home well, he took charge on the run in last week to win by two lengths in 28.85. It is conceivable he could go a couple of lengths faster tonight and that is the reason he gets the nod. Blackstone Flash is clearly open to much improvement also given the fact that he won’t be two years of age until January. He did everything right last week to win in 28.87 but he may not get the sae sort of freedom into the turn this evening. He is nominated as the main threat, although each of the others are capable of getting involved. Hereforthecrack, Highview Cert and Glenlara Dubh are all capable of posting 28.80, while Pharis Syd did enough in his latest defeat to suggest he could make the frame.