Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 3 March 2025

It was only on Saturday that I was telling someone that we were approaching a time of the season when it was important to keep your eyes on the cards away from the main action, while most people are focused on Cheltenham.

Barney Curley once landed a touch at Newcastle, I think it was, on Grand National day and on Sunday at Leopardstown Darcy’s Friend won the second division of a 2m handicap hurdle off a mark of 86 on his first run for Emmet Mullins having been supported from 10/1 to 5/6.

The six-year-old had run five times over hurdles for former trainer Shane Duffy, who has had just seven winners from 251 runners under both codes over the last five years. The horse’s form was abysmal, beaten an aggregate of 198 lengths in three runs and pulled up twice, including when last seen at Wexford in May.

However before that he had shaped well in his sole start in an English point-to-point at Chaddesley Corbett in December, 2023, finishing third in a race that worked out phenomenally well.

The winner Just A Rose was sold later that month to Paul Nicholls for £175,000 and has subsequently won a 2m 3f maiden hurdle at Taunton by 26 lengths and holds an entry for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The second Country Mile was sold a few lots later to Dan Skelton for £80,000 and won a bumper last April and this season has won twice over hurdles, at Ayr and Cheltenham, and run second in a Grade 2 contest at Haydock. He is rated on 137.

The fourth Diamatiste ran placed a few times before winning a 0-105 handicap hurdle for Kayley Woollacott at Exeter and is now rated on 112.

It gets even better with the fifth, That’ll Do Moss, now rated on 126 having won a bumper and a maiden hurdle for Fergal O’Brien and beaten a short-head in a Grade 2 at Sandown last month.

Even the sixth has gone on to win twice over hurdles and is now rated on 115 for Sandy Thomson.

I cannot recall an English point-to-point in recent times working out better, and the quandary is how Darcy’s Friend ran so poorly for his former trainer.

Having not run since pulling up on his handicap debut at Wexford last May, Mullins has had plenty of time to sort things out and it’s no surprise that this ultra-shrewd handler saw an opportunity.

I am, of course, incredibly annoyed with myself for not spotting this earlier, especially as I scrolled down the list of the trainer’s horses for potential plots in the autumn.

Furthermore I have written here about this profile … a horse with useful point-to-point form running down the field in novice/maiden hurdles to acquire a mark and then being placed to win over hurdles or fences. I first noticed this practice back in the days with Martin Pipe, although I suspect it had been well-honed before him in Ireland.

The other indicator that something may be going down is when a horse has moved from another yard. I don’t want to say more at this point, but this is something to watch for on the all-weather. The new handler can obviously then call upon any number of reasons to explain the improvement, starting with the ‘change of scene.’

This well-orchestrated touch followed on from the two I highlighted last week with Je Suis Sacre and Great Attitude. Of course fortunes may be won or lost at Cheltenham, but don’t lose sight of the low-grade action around the gaffs.

I’ll be back here with more insights next Monday.

Bye for now

Why wait a week? Receive Marten’s free horse racing publication Weekly Roundup the day it is written in full for free every Monday evening by clicking here & signing up for our free Newsletter

© Copyright in all Marten Julian Publications is strictly reserved by the publishers. No material therein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from Marten Julian.