Dundalk Racing Tips: Perretti can build on promising debut

• A Dundalk NAP and Next Best from Timeform

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Dundalk NAP - 16:45 - Back Perretti

Perretti fared best of the newcomers when finishing third in a maiden at this course last month, doing well under the circumstances to be beaten less than three lengths having come from further back than the pair who beat him.

He still had plenty to do entering the straight and it was the way he stayed on to be nearest at the finish which marked him out as potentially useful, recording a notably fast closing sectional.

The drop back to seven furlongs today perhaps isn't ideal given how Perretti shaped on debut, but he clearly has the ability to win an ordinary maiden and this looks a good opportunity for him to get off the mark if taking another step forward for Joseph O'Brien, who is seeking a third success in this race since 2019.

Dundalk Next Best - 18:15 - Back Katonah

Katonah ran well under an extremely patient ride when last seen finishing third in a big-field handicap at Galway in October, showing more than enough to suggest she's on a good mark when everything falls right.

She was beaten just a length at the line and Colin Keane resorted to little more than hands-and-heels riding on her after she'd been hampered by a weakening rival at a crucial stage of the race, just as she was starting to build up a head of steam on the inner.

Likely to have gone very close but for that interference, Katonah can line up from the same mark today and is worth another chance to prove herself a well-handicapped filly on her all-weather debut.