AJC Group Handicap Hurdle

15:55 Downpatrick Mon 31 Aug 2026 2m5f180y Good 11 runners

Mr Fox’s call

Seven Towers

SPECULATIVE Est. 22%

6TH

Mr Fox says

Seven Towers (SR:84, Age:5, Wgt:11-9) arrives on the back of a win (form 3-3391, rightmost digit = 1), is proven on good going (GoingFit:+), and is trained by Gavin Cromwell (9%, 1407 runners) — a yard with meaningful volume and strike rate at this level. Keith Donoghue (10%, 520 runners) is a capable booking and not a fill-in ride. The 12-day turnaround after a win suggests connections are confident the horse is in a purple patch, and at only 5 years old this is a progressive type whose ceiling is still unclear. The weight of 11-9 is moderate in context — lighter than the co-topweights Bruant and Kashchei by 3lb — and the DistFit:? simply reflects limited sample rather than a demonstrated failure at the trip. Each-way alternative: Mickey Cohen. Main danger: Down Around — Down Around (SR:82, Wgt:11-4) is trained by Gordon Elliott (15%, 1767 runners — the highest trainer strike rate in the field by a clear margin) and last-time-out won (form 236-71), so comes here on the same winning-run profile as Seven Towers but with a stable that consistently punches above its weight in these mid-tier handicap hurdles.

Verify· #15261

Full result

Winner: Bruant (GB) at SP 3/1F. Mr Fox’s picks highlighted in gold.

1 Bruant A J Martin · Kevin Sexton
2 Kashchei Cian Collins · Kevin Healy(7)
3 Penzance John Joseph Hanlon · Harry Sexton(7)
4 Down Around Fox #3 Gordon Elliott · Danny Gilligan
5 Cozone Fox #4 Matthew J Smith · James Smith(5)
6 Seven Towers Fox #1 Gavin Cromwell · Keith Donoghue
7 Love Like This John Patrick Ryan · Daniel King
8 Tell Nobody Nothin Noel Meade · Joshua Halford(7)
— Shinnhill Neil McKnight · Eoghan Finegan(5)
— Tolka Row David M O'Brien · Sean Flanagan
— Mickey Cohen Fox #2 Noel Meade · Donagh Meyler

Top 4 — how each finished

1 Seven Towers 6TH
2 Mickey Cohen
3 Down Around 🏁 4TH
4 Cozone 5TH