BOYLE Sports Handicap (Div I)

14:26 Thurles Thu 08 Oct 2026 1m69y Good 17 runners

Mr Fox’s call

Starflow

SPECULATIVE Advised 9/2 SP 5/1 Est. 28%

🏆 WON

Mr Fox says

Starflow (SR:60, 9/2) is the highest-rated horse in the field by a clear margin and arrives on the back of consecutive wins (form -88711, rightmost two digits both 1s), confirming peak current form. Crucially, both GoingFit:+ and DistFit:+ confirm this horse has a proven affinity for today's good ground and the 1m69y trip — a combination no other runner in the field can match. Trainer Henry de Bromhead operates at a 16% career strike rate, the strongest training operation represented here, and the booking of a conditional jockey rather than a senior rider is the only mild concern, which the market has latched onto in drifting 14% — however, the going/distance/form alignment is too strong to dismiss on that basis alone. Weight of 9-8 is workmanlike for a top-SR runner and no other horse combines multiple positive signals in the same way. Each-way alternative: Cisterna. Main danger: Medieval Night — Medieval Night (SR:57, 9/2) is joint-second in the SR rankings, partners J M Sheridan who strikes at 11% from over 1,200 career rides, and the 4-year-old's form figure of 3 last time out shows a placed effort at a competitive level — if the going and distance concerns prove overstated, this is the likeliest runner to beat Starflow.

Verify· #22154

Full result

Winner: Starflow (IRE) at SP 5/1. Mr Fox’s picks highlighted in gold.