Recon Mission© Photo Healy Racing
Michael O’Callaghan is convinced there is more to come from Recon Mission in the prestigious Matchbook Irish EBF Birdcatcher Premier Nursery at Naas today.
A debut winner, Recon Mission was unplaced in two Listed races before winning well at Fairyhouse on his penultimate outing.
Last time out, he was second to All The King’s Men in a Listed race at Navan.
“He was still getting going at the line in Navan, and Leigh (Roche) said he wasn’t stopping, and a rating of 93 definitely isn’t the ceiling of where he is going to reach,” said O’Callaghan.
“There is still improvement in him — and that is why I think a race like the Birdcatcher, off that mark, will suit him now.”
John James Feane runs Dragons Call who got off the mark at the fourth time of asking at Navan last time out.
“Dragons Call has come forward from her run the last day, and we are hoping for a good run from her on Sunday,” said Feane.
“She has won on fast ground, but we think she might be a little better on the slow side of good — she’s not really ground dependent.
“We’ve booked Sean Davis to claim 5lb off her, and she’s come on a lot from her Navan run. We are just hoping we can get in where there’s a bit of pace on.”
Johnny Murtagh runs four — Archaeology Yolo Again So Familiar and Lord Rapscallion — with the latter owned by, among others, ITV Racing’s Ed Chamberlain.
“Owning Lord Rapscallion has been so much fun — and I never, in my wildest dreams, thought we’d get to run in a race like the Birdcatcher at Naas,” said Chamberlin.
“The first time I went to see the horse with Johnny he sort of had a quiet word and said to me that we might win a small race, so to think that we’ve now got a win under our belt and we are going for a race of this stature is amazing really.
“It’s been a great ride and a lot of fun. The horse really sticks his neck out, and we go to Naas with a chance.”
Aidan O’Brien is represented by the top-weight North Wind while Mick Mulvany’s Silver Service is another player.
