'I think this fella is bound for Group Ones' - Paddy Flood on Michael O'Callaghan's potential star Michael O'Callaghan's progressive colt Push The Boat Out was one of the more talked-about juveniles of the weekend after reeling in the previously unbeaten Coventry Stakes winner, Great Barrier Reef, to win by a neck in the Group 3 Heider Family Stables Round Tower Stakes at the Curragh under Seamie Heffernan. Sent off at 17/2 and having only his second career start, the Kodi Bear colt had won his maiden over the same course and distance three weeks earlier. Ex-jockey and lead race analyst for irishracing.com Paddy Flood had flagged the colt as a standout on the his analysis show The Jockey Angle a fortnight before. Race replays are FREE to watch from all Irish tracks and a selection of premier British tracks sponsored by William Hill. Paddy Flood’s Analysis If you followed the show a couple of weeks ago, the horse that I picked as a standout, we're going to review it again. He won his maiden maybe three weeks ago and he was a real eye-catcher to me. Straight away, what I noticed about this colt is how straightforward he is. He's beautifully relaxed in Seamie's hands, Seamie's able to get his hands down on his neck. And the horse in front, Great Barrier Reef, he's a Ballydoyle yardstick, so Ryan was able to get his own way in front and set a sectional to suit him. Seamie knows his main danger is Great Barrier Reef, so what he has to do is, take back off Colin's heels and come back inside him. He has to rush him to get there. For a horse only having his second start, this was fantastic. Fine attitude in the closing stages The finishing stages - it's here that I really, really like him. Look how keen and straightforward this horse is to win. He's got his ears pinned back, and he's only after getting rebalanced from Colin Keane bringing him out to the outside. Great Barrier Reef is a fairly hard yardstick. Some people were saying Ryan Moore maybe gave him a bad ride, but I can't see what was bad about it. I just think Push The Boat Out is probably well above average. That's a Group 3 at the Curragh, and that's only two runs into his campaign. It looks like he won't mind a cut in the ground. Seamie was very complimentary of him after the race, and Michael O'Callaghan the same. So I think this fellow is bound for Group Ones and he's going to be a real horse to follow. He's a nice flashy grey son of Kodi Bear.
