Listowel Harvest Festival Day 3: Owner, trainer and jockey to follow Listowel’s Harvest Festival holds plenty of cultural significance in Ireland and it also provides loads of competitive racing. It’s Day 3 on Tuesday and the race of the day is the Listed Edmund & Josie Whelan Memorial Listowel Stakes at 3.50. We’ve had a good look at the card and picked out an owner, trainer and jockey to follow on Tuesday. Check out the best Listowel Harvest Festival betting offers. Owner — Derrick Smith (Coolmore) The Coolmore partners are rarely far away from the winners’ enclosure in every meeting at which they’re represented and that could well be the case at Listowel on Tuesday. Derrick Smith’s familiar purple silks are set to be on show three times and a winner or two could be on the cards. King Of Sparta looked in need of the experience when finishing sixth on debut at Dundalk and he’s likely to improve significantly this time around. Extravagant goes in the €30,000 MAC Hardware & Farm Supplies Irish EBF Rated Race and the son of Wootton Bassett should go well. He got off the mark with a confidence-boosting success last time and should be in the mix once again. Handicap debutant Saratoga goes in the final race on the card and there’s lots to like about his chances. Perhaps the switch to handicaps can make the difference for him and it seems very likely that the best is yet to come. Trainer — Aidan O’Brien If the Coolmore boys are set for a good day at Listowel, Aidan O’Brien will be too. He has a very healthy strike-rate of 32 per cent at the track in the last five years, with 10 winners from his 31 runners during this period. O’Brien runs two in the opening maiden on the card and Jack Cleary rides the once-raced King Of Sparta, but main man Wayne Lordan is on board debutant Straight Up. The well bred son of Wootton Bassett should be suited by the trip and could run well first time up. O’Brien teams up with Lordan on both Extravagant and Saratoga. The former took a big step forward to get off the mark on handicap debut at Killarney and the official ratings suggest he has every chance. Saratoga looks very interesting and should be going close. Jockey — Oisin Murphy County Kerry-born Oisin Murphy has made his career over in Britain and doesn’t come over to ride in Ireland too often. It could therefore be significant that he heads over to ride in his home county on Tuesday. Britain’s champion jockey has five rides on Tuesday and he’ll be keen to come away with a winner or two. He rides Spectical for Jessica Harrington in the opener. Harrington’s colt will need to improve from his debut at Galway last month but is entitled to do so. Ramiro would be a little hard to fancy on the evidence of his two runs so far this season but the nine-year-old won this race off a 1lb higher mark in 2024. Lavender Breeze goes in the feature Listed contest and she can build on her Gowran maiden win last time out. The in-form On A Session won with up-and-coming claimer Nicola Burns on board last time out and Murphy takes over riding duties this time around. Joseph O’Brien’s Delta is an eye-catching handicap debutant and he could give Saratoga a run for his money.
