More winners from the French and Irish sections

It was a low key day as far as the action on Tuesday was concerned but One Jump Ahead produced another couple of winners. Capodanno (10/11), who is included in the French Revolution section, had finished third on his Irish debut at Clonmel in early December. Willie Mullins' gelding returned to the same track and dropped back to two miles under Mark Walsh. Sporting a tongue tie for the first time, the Manduro gelding was always to the fore before pulling away after the second last. A seven lengths winner from Dunboyne (had chased home subsequent Grade 1 winner Bob Olinger), it will be interesting to see what handicap mark Capadanno is allocated after this. Bought for €185,000 towards the end of 2019, the J.P.McManus owned gelding looks a fine long-term prospect.

Declan Phelan's Irish Pointers article was responsible for another winner at Exeter courtesy of Patroclus (6/5). A £150,000 purchase at the Cheltenham March Sale, the Shirocco gelding had finished runner-up in his only point for Michael Goff a few days earlier. Keen on his Rules debut over two miles five at Warwick last month, Nicky Henderson's gelding coped with the drop in trip staying on strongly on the run-in to wear down Astigar having been headed between the final two flights. A half length winner, he will benefit from returning to longer trips in due course and is a horse with a decent future.

I am currently working on the February Update and, in addition to the main races during next month, I will be looking ahead to the forthcoming Cheltenham Festival, especially the handicaps. If you haven't already ordered a copy, please head to the Publications section of the site. The February Update is £6.00.