Sixteen years since Johnny Murtagh was second in the Group 1 Nunthorpe as a jockey, he now bids to land the prize as a trainer with a fascinating contender.
Should time constraints prevail, Murtagh will hope the supposedly electric Direct Hilt can go one better than he could. The three-year-old Canford Cliffs filly came to Murtagh’s yard last month, and the signs have been promising.
Direct Hilt won five of her six starts in South Africa, including the valuable Grade 1 Allan Robertson Championship.
Murtagh discussed the filly in detail, as he told the Racing Post: “She’s owned by Barnane Stud and Hollywoodbets and they told me I would be getting her in May. She’s been in Ireland for a while, but I’ve had her for about three weeks.
“The dream is to try and run her in the Nunthorpe, so it’s going to be a little bit of a tight squeeze getting her there.”
York’s Ebor Festival gets under way just over a month away, but connections haven’t yet formulated a concrete route.
‘She looked very, very fast” – Johnny Murtagh
Delving deeper into her make-up, Murtagh said: “She looks like the ideal type for either Goodwood or the Nunthorpe. They think that’s the preferred race because the style of the track would suit her really well.
“She’s settled in well, she’s still got a little bit of a hairy coat. So she’s maybe still on South African time, but watching her two-year-old win she looked very, very fast.
“We’re finding out about her. I’m not sure if she’ll go straight to York or go to Goodwood yet. But we’ll see how she is over the next couple of weeks. We don’t have too many top-level winners in the yard, so it’s very exciting. And it’s sporting for her owners to bring her over and see how she matches up here.”
Direct Hilt has yet to be rigorously put through her paces, but Murtagh said her works will now ramp up. “It’s all about getting her settled in and she’s done that well. She seems to be taking her work well. She’s going to have to step up at the end of the week. You wouldn’t be looking at her thinking she’s a rocket. But everyone that rides her says she’s a nice size, has a good temperament and moves well.”
Direct Hilt isn’t the only foreign interest in the Nunthorpe, as the market is headed by Bacio. The Wesley Ward sprinter made a mockery of his mark of 100 in the Wokingham, and bids to better the yard runner up efforts in 2015 and 2017.