Grade Two Goffs Future Stars Bumper Guide 2022

Stoutly bred for Willie Mullins, Facile Vega is out of Cheltenham Festival heroine Quevega and by Walk In The Park.

With lofty shoes to fill, Facile Vega made his debut for the stable at Leopardstown during their Christmas festival and looked a smart prospect when skipping clear of Joyeux Machin who’s given the form a boost by winning subsequently.

He’s bred firmly in the purple to be near national hunt royalty and couldn’t have gone about things much more stylish on debut.

There’s more to come from this top prospect.

A slightly more experienced runner in the shape of The Big Doyen for Peter Fahey and Derek O’Connor. Making his debut right back in September at Roscommon.

Winning comfortably by beating Ballyglass by a length and a half, that rival has since gone on to win a bumper too. However the 3rd Captain Lightfoot was beaten out of sight by Facile Vega at Leopardstown.

The Big Doyen though showed his class when defying his penalty for the initial win when going on to beat a short priced favourite at Punchestown in November.

A wide margin victory was a smart performance but the gelding hasn’t been seen since. The 2nd place from that run was also well beaten by Facile Vega at Leopardstown.

He’s shown some class to defy a penalty but doesn’t quite look to be of the class of Facile Vega.

He could be a good one for some place money.

The only entrant for Gordon Elliott, Itswhatunitesus is another by Walk In The Park who also made a good impression on his only outing for connections.

Well fancied in the market, he justified strong market support to go in at 10/11.

The 2nd Killer Mode has given the form a boost by going on to win his subsequent bumper run and has even run well over hurdles since to place in a couple of maiden events.

The form doesn’t look as strong as that of the market leader but he won with plenty in hand and came off a strong pace well with a nice turn of foot.

A more highly-tried sort for Padriag Butler, Do Capo Glory started life in bumpers last season but failed to land a blow as a 4 year old finishing 3rd and 5th in his two outings.

With another summer under his belt and a bit of time to strengthen up and mature, the gelding managed to win his first start back this season.

Returning to the racetrack in October he managed to get his head in front for the first time when winning a bumper at Galway on soft ground.

However, the form hasn’t worked out well and the run has failed to produce anything of note since.

He hasn’t been seen for 105 days and the bare form looks to lack any real substance to suggest he’d have a good chance in this deeper contest.

At the foot of the betting currently is 5 year old son of Getaway Carnfunnock. Trained by Stuart Crawford and donning the all green of Simor Munir & Isaac Souede, the gelding was last seen handily winning a bumper at Ayr back in mid November.

Debuting in bumper company at Punchestown last season, Carnfunnock ran well to be 3rd despite a big price tag and had Da Capo Glory a good 7 lengths behind him.

Returning to the track in November for his new owners, the Stuart Crawford charge obliged favourite backers to score at the second time of asking under rules.

The form doesn’t look brilliant but the 5th has come out to win a hurdle race since.

Another one who on paper is lacking the substance to make a splash in graded company.

Paul Nolan’s once raced Fame and Glory gelding Sandor Clegane absolutely bolted up at Punchestown at the start of December.

Not exactly well fancied in the market, the 5 year old went off 8/1 but was travelling best turning for home and only had to be pushed out to go 15 lengths clear of the 2nd, The Flier Begley.

The Flier Begley has run well in defeat since but has failed to win a race of his own yet.

The race has produced a winner with Glengouly winning a maiden hurdle last month but it's hard to assess how good that might make Sandor Clegane as a bumper horse.

Plenty more to come and he did it nicely enough first time out.

The last of the Mullins string is 6 year old Embassy Gardens. Only seen once on course for a 2.5 mile bumper at Leopardstown at the end of December, the gelding just managed to justify his short priced favouritism to get up by a nose.

Following the same route as stablemate Appreciate It, Embassy Gardens looks to now drop back in trip and take the grade 2 prize here.

The form hasn’t worked out spectacularly with the 2nd place being beaten since but the form might be worth more than the official distance as Embassy Gardens took a hit on the nose from his rival’s jockey by accident.

He has plenty of stamina in the books but the form alone leaves him with a good few pounds to find with the market principles.