Coral’s ‘Three to Follow’ for Dublin Racing Festival

A 3lb rise for that certainly looks on the lenient side, and provided those previous jumping issues don’t rear their ugly head this weekend, Madara can ensure that at least one trophy this weekend will be making its way back across the Irish Sea.

Jeroboam Machin – 4:40 Leopardstown 

It’s ironic that the market for the ‘future stars’ bumper this weekend is dominated by top bumper horses from years gone by, but that’s the situation we find ourselves in with A Dream To Share & Redemption Day at the head of the betting for Saturday’s concluding race.

The majority of the field have certainly looked potential ‘future stars’ on what they’ve done so far, but my suspicion is when we look back at this race in years to come, the star that’s shone the brightest will be Paul Byrne’s horse Jeroboam Machin.

He went into plenty of notebooks when making a winning start in a Fairyhouse bumper back in December, and despite looking like he could get tapped for toe off a steady pace, he came home strongly to win with plenty of hand. He beat the smart but ill-fated D B Cooper that day, and with the 3^rd, 4^th & 6^th all winning next time out, the form undoubtedly has substance.

This point-to-point winner looks a big raw horse who will come into his own when heading back over obstacles, but Emmet Mullins’ suggestion that he can ‘work with anything we have in the yard’ indicates the raw ability is there, and the fact he remains in bumpers suggests connections believe there’s plenty more to achieve in this sphere before going hurdling.

An opening show of 16-1 looks very much on the generous side, and with a strong pace likely, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Emmet Mullins’ horse can upset the principles in the day’s concluding contest.

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