Bayan bubbling for Cork raid The Gordon Elliott-trained Bayan continues his Galway Hurdle preparations at Cork on Friday when he faces four rivals in the Family Day Out August 3rd Hurdle. Already the winner of 270,000 euro in career prize-money, the 151-rated hurdler has won seven times, including in The Ladbroke at Ascot, but comes into the race on a four-race losing run. However, the race conditions suit him well, with promising young rider Jack Kennedy also taking off 7lb. Opposing Bayan are two Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-olds, Alelchi Inois and Indevan, and while both are confirmed high-class summer horses, each is on something of a retrieval mission. Alelchi Inois pulled up on his last two chases starts, albeit in Grade One and Two company, last year, while Indevan reverts to hurdling, having been well beaten on his reappearance at Punchestown recently. The quintet is completed by Saint Gervais and Collen Beag. Barry Geraghty continues in his pursuit of more winners for new boss JP McManus and has solid claims for the champion owner on the Andrew McNamara-trained Just Call Me in the Mallow Print Handicap Hurdle. Just Call Me was third at Limerick last month and the form of that race was subsequently boosted with the winner Punch Bas following up again at Limerick last weekend. McManus' Captain Barbossa, trained by Aidan O'Brien, is another with strong claims in the concluding Buy Online At corkracecourse.ie Bumper. The son of Goldwell finished strongly to edge a short-head win at Ballinrobe in May, but now steps up to winners' company where he faces stiff opposition from the Willie Mullins-trained Listen Dear, a runaway scorer at Downpatrick in June. The Mick Winters-trained Theos Well, a winner on the Flat at Ballinrobe last month, might be able to get off the mark over hurdles in the Great Value Social Package Maiden Hurdle, where he faces 10 opponents. By Tom Weekes
