Father Patrick set for hat-trick

FATHER PATRICK has a great chance of closing out a hat-trick of wins, but has to be perfectly ridden to defy topweight, going a furlong longer, in Saturday's Eileen Cliggott Memorial.

The six-year-old gelding already has the right jock, Oshane Nugent, who has been aboard the speedster for five of his six wins since December 2020. Nugent hardly misses aboard FATHER PATRICK, who tends to relish the rider's patience under pressure down the backstretch, which appears to be the plot being set by stablemates SPARKLE DIAMOND and NUCLEAR NOON.

Drawn against the rail with topweight 126lb, FATHER PATRICK will be out front from the get-go, but will have a bullseye on his back. SPARKLE DIAMOND, who led the Ian Levy Cup in suicidal splits, setting up the event for stablemate FURTHER AND BEYOND, is back for another hatchet job, this time with NUCLEAR NOON in mind as the closer.

While SPARKLE DIAMOND will be out front with 114lb, dictating terms and baiting FATHER PATRICK to engage with 126lb, NUCLEAR NOON will be stalking but carries 117lb, the same weight with which he was turned back in the Chris Armond Sprint at five and a half.

FATHER PATRICK was at his best in the Chris Armond on December 27, breaking sharply with 126lb to track VICTORY TURN before repelling challenges from NUCLEAR NOON and pesky GOD OF LOVE along the rail.

Though NUCLEAR NOON is being primed as champion trainer Anthony Nunes' closer, it should be noted that, in addition to having nothing on FATHER PATRICK at the weight, his rival had beaten him under a hand ride while Robert Halledeen was flaying away from the top of the straight.

Jason DaCosta's EAGLE ONE, running 15lb lighter than FATHER PATRICK, is the horse who the handicaps and distance favour, having beaten his rival in the Eros Trophy at seven furlongs last June. However, EAGLE ONE had hit a purple patch back then, starting with a 34-1 upset in May before skipping class to surprise his own stablemate, KING ARTHUR, and FATHER PATRICK in the Eros Trophy.

EAGLE ONE never saw the winners' enclosure again, twice beaten by FATHER PATRICK, the last being an 11-length loss at six furlongs in December. EAGLE ONE had to lower his sights, beating overnight allowance company, two races off a get-out-of-jail card on January 8.

When EAGLE ONE stepped up among open allowance runners a week later, stablemates PATRIARCH and GOD OF LOVE beat him into third place at six furlongs, run into the ground by the speedsters' pace, exposing his Achilles' heel.

Nugent might very well have to adopt similar tactics this week for FATHER PATRICK to defy topweight and repel the cavalry charge, not allow rivals to run the race on their terms. His best bet is to get rid of iffy SPARKLE DIAMOND from the word go and have the field off their legs before engaging his mount's overdrive in the stretch run.