3 hours ago
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Connections of recent purchase Sea Of Rain are eyeing a swift return on their investment in Thursday's Betfred May Hill Stakes at Doncaster.
The daughter of Naval Crown, formerly owned by trainer Jim Bolger, created such a good impression in the Newtownanner Stud Irish EBF Stakes 12 days ago that the race sponsors snapped up the talented filly to run in the colours of the Clonmel based Maurice Regan-owned stud farm.
Regarded by Bolger as ‘my Oaks filly for next year’, Sea Of Rain saw out the mile strongly at the Curragh when springing an 18/1 surprise in the hands of Colin Keane, although her handler was one of the least shocked by the victory.
‘I intended backing Sea Of Rain when I saw the 25-1, but I forgot to do it. I'm the worst punter in the world,’ said Bolger who this week sold his Coolcullen base to Grand National-winning trainer Emmet Mullins.
‘The performance was no surprise. All she needed was the mile and a proper gallop.’
The ongoing restructuring of Bolger’s training and bloodstock enterprises offered an opportunity for Regan to step in and acquire a filly that, along with Spartan Nua, has held her form during a season where her octogenarian handler has struggled for winners.
‘She put up a good performance in the Group Three and we bought her after that and we’ll find out today if it was good business,’ said PJ Colville, representing the owners.
Sea of Rain en route to victory at the Curragh in August
‘She looks an uncomplicated filly and the mile will suit her well. Good to soft should be fine and we look to have a nice draw near the middle.
‘Charlie Appleby’s horse (Musical Times) will be tough to beat and she looks really promising, but after that it looks fairly open.
‘It’s another step up again, but we think she’s up to it. She’s been learning on the job and her last run was her best run so far and that is always a positive.’
As Bolger bids to land one of Thursday's feature events, the ambitious Mullins is targeting Group 2 glory of his own on Friday when recent Ffos Las winner Winday takes a sizeable step up in class in the Betfred Howard Wright Doncaster Cup Stakes.
The son of Galiway returned from a spell hurdling in France to win by a wide margin on his Welsh comeback and, as a three-year-old without a penalty for any pattern race success, will carry a whopping 16lb less than ante-post favourite Caballo De Mar.
Sam's top tips for Day One at Doncaster...
3.00 – Danielle
Waardah, Consent and Danielle all renew rivalries after suffering defeat in the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood last time and preference is for the latter to reverse placings with her old foes in today's feature. The Gosden operation has sent out a raft of winners in the past fortnight and, although their daughter of Cracksman was disappointing on the Sussex Downs, the easier ground at Doncaster should play more to her strengths as she bids to go three better than last year’s fourth in this event.
3.35 – Sea Of Rain (ew)
It has been 11 years since Jim Bolger landed the May Hill Stakes with Turret Rocks and Sea Of Rain appears to have bright prospects of following in those hoofprints on Town Moor. The octogenarian Bolger may be scaling back his training operation and bloodstock interests by selling his Coolcullen yard, but he has already gone close to enjoying a British Group 1 success this summer with Spartan Nua and his stylish recent Curragh scorer could give a bold sight from the front in this Group 2 contest.
4.45 – Midgham Man (ew)
Every season, Rod Millman and his team extract brilliant results from modestly priced horses while continuing to maximise the potential of homebreds like Midgham Man. The selection bolted up at Chepstow in a weak affair on his latest start and must improve again here, but he handled the easy ground well that day and could be overpriced to continue his improvement on his handicap bow.
