'Taken It To The Next Level This Season' - Owner, Trainer and Jockey To Follow At Thurles Thurles stages a tantalising eight-race card on Thursday. The going is currently described as yielding to soft on the chase course and soft to yielding in places on the hurdles track. Race four is a fascinating maiden hurdle for mares, which features a dark horse for Willie Mullins this season. We’ve had a good look at the card and picked out an owner, trainer and jockey to follow, including the main man himself. Owner - William Durkan Also a trainer, William Durkan’s blue silks with white-hooped sleeves will be represented by two runners on Thursday. The first of which is Eagle Fang in the opening beginners' chase and he will be ridden by Philip Byrnes. The five-year-old has some pretty strong hurdles form and was far from disgraced when third behind Home By The Lee in the Grade 2 Lismullen Hurdle at Navan last season. A mark of that form was that American Grand National winner Zanahiyr was 16 lengths behind him in fourth that day. The ratings suggest he’s right up there so you wouldn’t want to rule out a big run from Eagle Fang. Holy See is Durkan’s other runner and he should be capable of winning races sooner or later. It was a decent effort when second behind Charlus in a maiden hurdle at Naas back in January and a return to that form would surely put him bang in the mix. Trainer - Willie Mullins It’s always hard to ignore Willie Mullins and you can try and take him on but it’s often futile to do so. The yard has been a bit busier in the last week or so and you can tell that operations are beginning to ramp up. He sends three to Thurles and two go in the opener. Fishery Lane is the mount of Paul Townend and he won a Fairyhouse maiden hurdle in good style back in January. Two very disappointing efforts then followed, however, and he pulled up in the Albert Bartlett and in a novice handicap at Fairyhouse. He’s therefore on a bit of a recovery mission but perhaps fences can facilitate some improvement. Toad Hall is his other runner and he bolted up in a Downpatrick maiden hurdle and scored again at Kilbeggan in June. We haven’t seen the best of him yet. Meanwhile, Place De La Nation was deemed good enough to run in the Triumph Hurdle last season, despite being a maiden over hurdles, and her trainer has big expectations this year. This looks like a good opportunity to get off the mark, provided the longer trip suits. Jockey - Darragh O’Keeffe Henry de Bromhead’s stable jockey has taken his riding to the next level this season and Darragh O’Keefe continues to have a steady flow of winners, which is why he already has 68 on the board. He’ll undoubtedly be on the lookout for more at Thurles and he has five runners. Franciscan Rock has every chance in the opening race, according to the handicapper, as he brings some smart graded hurdle form to the table. His four previous starts over fences weren’t great but he’s older now and should be capable of better. Stoneyford Lady has finished second in each of her last two starts and should be on the premises once again. The lightly-raced Lambay Island was a close third in maiden company last time out and it’s likely that there’s more to come from him now tackling handicaps.
