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Real Appeal has twin targets at Leopardstown

Real Appeal (right) winning at Dundalk last monthReal Appeal (right) winning at Dundalk last month
© Photo Healy Racing

The connections of Real Appeal have a couple of early season races at Leopardstown in mind following a highly creditable run in Qatar last weekend.

Ado McGuinness won the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup with Bowerman back in 2021 and the Lusk trainer went close to landing the valuable Doha mile event again last Saturday when Real Appeal was beaten just over a length in fourth behind the Aidan O’Brien-trained Order Of Australia.

The six-year-old, who was bought out of Jessica Harrington’s yard for 130,000 guineas at the Horses-In-Training Sale in Newmarket last autumn, had made a bright start for current connections when scoring at Dundalk last month.

Stephen Thorne, assistant to McGuinness and also spokesman for owners Shamrock Thoroughbreds, said: "He ran very well in Qatar. He ran with great credit. We'll bring him home and give him a little break.

“We are going for the Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown (on April 5) and then we are going to try and follow up in the Amethyst Stakes (Group 3 also at Leopardstown on May 7), the race we won last year with Pretreville.

"They will be his two main targets.”

Quotes by Michael Graham

About Alan Magee
Alan has worked in the racing industry for well over 30 years including with the Sporting Life, Turform and Irish Racing Services. He took up his current role as Irish Racing Team Leader with the Press Association in 2013. He has a keen interest in most sports and plays golf.