Patrick Guilfoyle has been one of the most productive trainers in the country over the past three months, and the numbers are difficult to argue with. From 24 runners in the last 90 days, the yard has sent out 11 winners at a 45.8% strike rate. Add in a further 2 placed efforts and the combined win-and-place rate climbs to 54.1% — more than half of all runners from this stable finish in the first two.
Three Guilfoyle runners are on tonight's card, all at Tralee. Mystical Poppy goes from trap 3 in the A3 over 500m at 19:46, while at 21:31 the yard has a rare double entry with Magical Grayson from trap 4 and Daleroad Magic from trap 5 both contesting the A2 over 525m. Two dogs from the same stable in the same race raises the familiar question of which one the yard truly fancies, but it also signals that Guilfoyle is confident enough in both to let them take each other on. When a trainer is operating at nearly 46%, that kind of confidence means something.
At Tralee, the trap data shows a reasonable spread with no single box dominating, so the edge here comes from the trainer rather than the draw. With the A2 double at 21:31 the more interesting contest, both Magical Grayson and Daleroad Magic are worth including in any betting calculations on that race. From a yard in this form, backing the field is not always the worst idea.