Three newcomers to note at Gowran on Tuesday

Gowran Park plays host to an eight-race card on Tuesday which kicks off with three seven-furlong maidens, featuring a number of contenders with interesting profiles seeking their first wins and many debutants having their first taste of racing on the track.

Here are three newcomers to note embarking on the start of their racing careers at the County Kilkenny track.

Churchill filly Sweet Zaroline makes her debut for the Carriganóg Racing team. Trained by Joseph O'Brien, the €120,000 Goffs Orby Book 1 yearling purchase is the first foal out of Zofar Zogood, a half-sister to former Ballydoyle resident Horoscope, a Listed winner who earned a career-high rating of 110.

Her maternal granddam, Inca Wood, is a half-sister to ill-fated Group Three winner Furner's Green, who narrowly missed out on success in the Group One Poule D'Essai Des Poulains during his Classic campaign. 

Inca Wood is also a half-sibling to Lady Lupus, a Listed winner and third in the Irish Oaks, as well as Listed-winning Palace, dam of one-time Derby favourite and Group Two winner, High Definition, plus Mystical Lady, dam of Kingfisher, a stallion who amassed just under £400,000 during the course of his seventeen-race career.

On pedigree, there is enough to suggest this seven-furlong trip will be suitable, but she could also be effective over further in time considering there is plenty of stamina in the family. She wears a tongue tie on debut for a yard who have saddled sixteen juvenile winners this term. 

Another debutante of note in the opener is Johnny Murtagh-trained filly Ventress. A daughter of American Pharoah, she’s a first foal of American-bred Galileo mare Born Of War, a sister to Listed winner and Group One placed Fleet Review. 

Unraced Born Of War fetched $400,000 as a yearling, before being sold for 140,000gns in 2021. Her dam, A Star Is Born, was a sister to the talented Rip Van Winkle, rated 130 at his peak, a three-time Group One winner who finished second to Sea The Stars in both the 2000 Guineas and Derby, respectively, as well as the Coral-Eclipse.

The yard also saddle Greatest Drama, whose debut fifth has been franked by Acapulco Bay, a convincing winner at the Curragh on Saturday, and One Of Kind, a daughter of Listed-winning Monday who could improve for a Tipperary outing. Both stablemates have prior experience, and the former looks the pick of the yard on jockey bookings, but Ventress is of interest and is one to keep an eye on in her first appearance, considering the class in her pedigree.

Kingman colt Tashir, a homebred for the Aga Khan, makes his debut under Ben Coen for Johnny Murtagh in the second race on the card. He is also a first foal, out of mile-and-a-quarter winner Tasalka, a half-sister to dual Listed winner Tarana, dam of top class fillies Tarnawa and Tahiyra.

Tarnawa achieved a career-high rating of 122, boasting wins in the Prix Vermeille, Prix de l'Opera, and success over Magical in the Breeders' Cup Turf during her career, with perhaps her best performances coming when narrowly beaten by St Mark's Basilica in the Irish Champion Stakes, and by Torquator Tasso in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, respectively.

Five-time winner Tahiyra recorded three successive Group One victories during her three-year-old campaign, following a half-a-length defeat to Mawj in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. A Group One winner as a juvenile, too, she showed spectacular ability to achieve a rating of 118 before being retired following her third in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

From a high-quality family, Tashir is worth noting on debut but does face stiff opposition in the form of Monumental and Dante's Lad, respectively, who both have prior experience and could prove tough to beat. If he possesses some of the class of his talented relations however, he could be one to follow in future.