'Exciting colt going forward' - Two horses to follow from the weekend. At the Curragh Racecourse last Saturday we saw an excellent performance from Shaihann, trained by Donnacha O’Brien and ridden by Gavin Ryan. He is a gorgeous son of Night Of Thunder who was strong throughout the day in the betting, and he showed a great attitude when comfortably winning the 1 mile 2 furlong maiden by three and a quarter lengths from Latin America. George Stubbs was fourth in this race and he also looks like an exciting colt going forward. The interesting thing about Shaihann is that he was unfortunate to bump into quite a few good ones in maidens. On his first start at the Curragh Racecourse, he was behind horses such as Seoul Force, who has gone on to win, Action who has gone on to be second in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes. Isaac Newton was fourth in a Group 1 in France, and New Zealand has been highly tried in some top-class races. He was second behind Pierre Bonnard in Dundalk, and Pierre Bonnard looks like he is going to be an exciting colt going forward. He is already a Group 1 winner in France and a Group 3 winner in Newmarket in October, so his form is extremely strong. Shaihann then went to the Curragh on the 27th of September and was fourth and only five lengths behind Hawk Mountain, who went on to beat Action in the Group 1 William Hill Futurity Stakes. So he definitely is a horse that can be excused for his defeats and he looks very interesting going forward. Having a look at Shaihann, it seems like he could go on to Leopardstown for a Derby trial, and he is entered in the Group 1 Irish Derby. With the improvement that he seems to have made and the physical transition from two to three, this horse is definitely one to keep an eye on going forward. Onto the National Hunt scene then at Downpatrick, where RobertJames made a very good impression when being a 16-length winner under Paul Townend. He is related to Not Negotiable, who looked exciting before injury ruled her out, but RobertJames looks like an exciting prospect and we may see him again before the season is over. RobertJames was good at Downpatrick and he looks like a big staying chaser. He winged most of his hurdles, but at one or two he got in tight. He overcame plenty, though, and it is hard coming to a tight undulating track like Downpatrick for the first time. He showed some inexperience in the early part of the race, but I thought he was nice. "We would get him settled and then come back down the hill again, so it is not an ideal place to bring one like him the first time. "It is great for the owners who obviously sponsor the big race here, and I think he will be a nice staying chaser.” Jockey Paul Townend was impressed with this horse and, like many of Willie Mullins’ debut hurdle winners, the sky's the limit and it will be interesting to see what this horse can achieve.
