Titan seeks Magical Derby dream at Powerstown Park

National Coursing Meeting preview

Next weekend brings the 100th renewal of the National Coursing Meeting with the most talented pups of the season seeking classic glory at the three-day festival which commences on Saturday over the hallowed galloping stretch at Powerstown Park in Clonmel.

Local support will travel in hope of an elusive classic victory to celebrate with a trio of qualifiers in the Boyle Sports Derby and it is the Magical Syndicate’s Magical Titan (Blades Of Hope-Savage Love) who is shortest in the outright market following a qualifying campaign full of promise.

Commencing his search for Trial Stake glory at Abbeydorney in October, the Pat Guilfoyle trained January pup was withdrawn from quarterfinal stage there following a brace of early round victories. However, he displayed the benefits for the experienced gained when truly announcing himself as a Derby contender at his home meeting in Nenagh.

Repeated fast runs saw him untroubled to final stage while the Brendan Matthews trained Vader dominated his side of that 32-dog stake to join Magical Titan in a high-class final. The pair were the standout performers of the entire weekend, producing faster runs than their older counterparts and it was Vader who prevailed by the minimum margin following an epic final tussle.

A late wind of the hare in that course might have denied the Moneygall pup then, but he would readily gain compensation when an emphatic winner of the 16-runner Rathkeale Trial Stake in late November, confirming his place amongst the favourites for Derby this weekend.

Drawn in the last quarter, it is difficult to see him contained in his opening two rounds if presenting in sharp form and a vast majority of Powerstown Park will be hoping for a rematch with Vader as they are drawn to meet in the third round!

The latter is joint favourite for the Derby at 7/1 while Magical Titan is priced at 10’s. The quarter is complicated by a smart Kevin Barry trained Unforgivable who won at Templetuohy recently but confidence in Magical Titan is strong as a major player in the classic!

The remaining brace of local challengers in the Derby both qualified on the same day in Rathdowney and claiming the host club qualifier was the Following The Blind Syndicate’s Hyde The Chips (Boylesportsmagic-Mylittlesnowdrop) for trainer Darren Lee.

A February pup who began his season at Nenagh when withdrawn from the second round, he gained his Derby ticket at the second time of asking. Showing smart early pace throughout that 16-runner event, he defeated subsequent Mooncoin winner My Recipe in the second round which adds substance to his form, and he is quoted at 33/1. In a tough bottom quarter, the Roscrea charge faces a fancied Seven Barrows in the opening round but has the gears to trouble that 14/1 shot, with a crack at Vader his prize in Round Two.

A joint meeting at the Rathdowney venue, the Borris In Ossory Derby Trial Stake was won on the same day by Seamus & Catherine O’Mears’s Chubbys Max (Kyle Mozart-Badminton Chubby).

A 32-runner event, the Pat O’Connor trained January pup was enjoying his fourth outing of the season having previously reached semi-final stage at Listowel. With comparisons to be drawn against fellow pups at a busy Rathdowney, examination of the times there read favourably for the O’Meara pup who improved through the event, a feature which is mirrored in his season thus far. With the tough traits of his famed Chubby’s breeding lines, he looks tailor made for an extreme test which awaits this weekend and from the top quarter, should he negotiate the early rounds, he may well be a potent sleeper in the market at 33/1!

Sharlene and Nina may clash in Oaks

The best we can hope for is to have one representative in the quarterfinals of the Horse & Jockey Hotel Oaks as both local qualifiers have been drawn in the same section of the second quarter. First into slips for Saturday morning’s opening round will be John Kelly’s Sharlene (Kyle Mozart-Atypical Danger) as a thoroughly unexposed contender on the back of a solitary appearance this season.

Making her debut at Regional, a brace of opening round victories saw her smart from slips in snug victories, but it was the improvement shown on finals day which was the most pleasing feature of victory as she progressed beyond rivals throughout the event. Five lengths to the good over subsequent Clonakilty qualifier Aghadown Winnie at final stage, there is plenty of merit to this form and from a multiple classic winning kennel is Killowney as an April pup with much scope for improvement, has the market got it very wrong at 50/1?

On a third-round collision course with the Kelly charge is Sandra & Pat Guilfoyle’s Magical Nina (Adios Alonso-Clerihan Jangles) following her victory at the second time of asking in Nenagh.

Reaching the semi-finals of a classy Kilflynn qualifier in the early season, the January pup impressed next time out on home soil and is a sharp performer who never put a paw wrong in Nenagh when swift on the clock throughout. Not seen since, she is cautiously priced by the odds makers at 20/1 as another open to much improvement.

Work celebrations with Gin

New for centenary celebrations in the 2026 season was the introduction of the National Workers Championship which sees eight surviving quarterfinalists seek festival glory in search of a €7500 prize on the final day at Clonmel.

Having impressively taken her first step towards victory in the inaugural running of the event when landing the Members Stake at Nenagh, hopes are high that the For The Plot Syndicate’s More Gin Please (Wi Can Riki-Well Einstein) can be the first to etch her name on the Bobby Browne trophy.

Largely untroubled in victory at Nenagh, the Kevin Barry trained April whelp was free to pursue Oaks Trial Stake ambitions and proved a player in that sphere despite plenty of misfortune. A minor illness forced her withdrawal from the Oaks qualifier at Rathdowney when holding obvious claims at quarterfinal stage and she appeared quite unlucky within a subsequent bumpy quarterfinal passage at Borrisoleigh as a major outright fancy on finals day.

With the Workers Championship always an option having not secured her place in the Oaks, More Gin Please reverted to the new event at the turn of the year when required to contest two courses at last 32 stage in Sevenhouses.

A wide margin winner of her first course there, she would then ensure a place at the head of the market with an emphatic defeat of dual Trial Stake runner-up Ever So Dramatic in the last 16. Assured of big local support on finals day in Powerstown, here’s hoping that Gin is indeed flowing in the aftermath!