RACING:IT IS some five years and two days since Pires recorded his only flat victory, but he could be poised to make up for lost time in tonight's Topaz Mile EBF Handicap.

The Tony Martin-trained gelding has long threatened to bag a decent prize on the flat, and the pick of his form over the last couple of seasons makes him one of the leading contenders. Allied to that, he has a favourable low draw.

The seven-year-old comes into this off a couple of respectable runs over hurdles, and he wasn’t disgraced over a trip that was too far when second to The Last Don at Listowel last month on his latest flat appearance.

However, it is his close third in last year’s English Cambridgeshire, traditionally one the most competitive handicaps of the season in England, which earns him the vote.

The unique demands of Galway will present him with a different test to that of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, but if he can perform to the same level Pires should mount a strong challenge. It is worth noting that he is just one pound higher in the ratings than when he contested the Cambridgeshire.

In a typically competitive renewal of the feature event, a case could be made for quite a few of the runners who include last year’s winner Ask Jack. Filling fifth position 12 months ago was Drombeg Dawn.

She didn’t have the best of draws that day and she went on to win the Irish Lincoln at the start of this season. If she can improve slightly on her last couple of runs she too could emerge as a leading player.

Dermot Weld fields a number of live contenders throughout the evening, and his Catch The Eye appears to hold a compelling claims in the concluding seven-furlongs maiden.

She hasn’t run since mid-May, but her two early-season runs in maidens give her a definite edge over her six rivals. Her second- place finishes to Creekside and Claoimh Solais in Naas maidens are by far the best pieces of form on offer.

Another Weld runner worth following is Rainforest Magic, who makes his first appearance on the flat since last October in the two-mile Topaz Handicap. This is a race Weld has won for the last two years.

Twelve months ago Rainforest Magic was a creditable third in a mile-and-a-half handicap on the opening night of the meeting when he looked like a horse who would appreciate going farther. He has not been at his best since switching to hurdles, but back on the level he is preferred to the progressive Dorset Square.

Prince Erik, another Weld runner, is sure to be popular in the Latin Quarter Chase, but it could pay to side with John Hanlon’s Truckers Delight. He is capable of appreciably better than he showed over fences at Wexford earlier this month when he might well have needed his first run for two months over an inadequate trip. Overall he has quite a decent record at this venue.

The opening novice hurdle is quite tricky, but Eddie Harty’s Princeton Plains is put forward on the basis of his victory in a competitive handicap hurdle at Killarney in May.

The two-year-old maiden is especially difficult and it could be worth taking a chance that Soon has progressed well from her debut fourth at the Curragh last month.

Elsewhere, Toufan Express won a good seven-furlong handicap here last year. He hasn’t been at his best this year but he can show up well tonight.

Ryan's Selections

5.05 – Princeton Plains

5.35 – Truckers Delight

6.10 – Rainforest Magic (dbl)

6.45 – Pires

7.15 – Soon

7.45 – Toufan Express

8.15 – Catch The Eye (nap)