Racing this week in Ireland starts this afternoon (Thursday) at Clonmel, with first race off at 12.35 pm. Tomorrow evening there is flat racing on the all-weather at Dundalk, away at 4.05 pm.
On Saturday, Irish racing takes place at Gowran Park featuring the Grade 2 Red Mills Chase and the Grade 3 Red Mills Hurdle, with first race at 1.20 pm. On Sunday, racing is at Punchestown (off at 2.10 pm), featuring the Grand National Trial Handicap Chase worth €100k. There is no racing on Monday.
On Saturday at Gowran, the Grade 3 Red Mills Trial Hurdle has nine entries – three of then trained by Willie Mullins, and two by Gordon Elliott. Mullins has Kitzbuhel (a winner at Punchestown in December), Sir Gerhard (who won the stable lads race at Punchestown this month), while there’s also Beacon Edge (second behind Anzadam at Naas) and Fils d’Oudairies (a well beaten 4th behind State Man in the Irish Champion at Leopardstown). Break My Soul has her first run for Ian Donoghue (brother of jockey Keith) since leaving Nicky Henderson’s yard, but will need to show some improvement. Mullins and Townend’s selection look set to continue their good run. In the Grade 2 Redmill Chase, there are seven runners, four of them trained by Mullins, and again Townend’s selection is taken to win.
Racing review
Racing at Thurles this day week was abandoned following the second race, when five horses came down at the last – three fell and two unseated. Michael O’Sullivan, on faller Wee Charlie, was seriously injured and had to be airlifted to hospital where he is still in intensive care.
At Navan on Sunday, Gordon Elliott had a treble on his home course, including both Grade 2 races. In the opening maiden hurdle, Honesty Policy won under Sam Ewing. In the Boyne Hurdle, Maxxum –ridden by Danny Gilligan – beat Noel Meade’s Thedevilscoachman with Elliott’s Farren Glory and Ewing third. In the Ten Up Novice Chase, Elliott had a 1, 2, 3 with Better Days Ahead, giving Ewing a double on the day, beating Stellar Story and Gilligan by a neck. Three Card Brag finished third.
On Tuesday at Ayr, there was an Irish training double with the opening Handicap Hurdle going to the Patrick Neville trained Upfordebate, and the closing bumper to the Stuart Crawford trained Royal Hillsborough.
Racing news
Nicky Henderson’s Sir Gino missed an intended run at Newbury on Saturday due to a small wound on a hind leg, which has now become infected and rules the five-year-old out for the rest of the season – including the Arkle at Cheltenham, for which he was ante-post favourite.
Colm Murphy’s nine-year-old mare Impervious, unbeaten over fences, suffered a further setback and has been ruled out for Cheltenham. She has not been seen on a racecourse since comfortably winning the Mares Chase at the Punchestown Festival, a month after she had won at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. The County Wexford handler had hoped to have her ready for Cheltenham. She has gone home to owner JP McManus in Martinstown, Co Limerick.
The Grand National weights were published this week and not surprisingly, last year’s winner – JP McManus’s I Am Maximus – topped the field when allotted 11st 12lb. Mullins has a total of ten (including Grangeclare West and Nick Rockett, Meetingofthewaters and L’Homme Presse), Gordon Elliott has 13 (headed by Minella Crooner), and Gavin Cromwell has eight entered (headed by Inothewayurthinkin).
Following the publication of the weights, the new favourite for the race is JP McManus’s Inothewayurthinkin (now 8/1 from 33/1 earlier in the month), replacing I Am Maximus. He finished fourth in the Irish Gold Cup behind Galopin Des Champs at the Dublin Racing Festival, but ante-post bettors beware that, as Cromwell says, he is not guaranteed a runner and holds other options.
There has also been money for Iroko, who is trained by Oliver Greenall, and Josh Guerriero for McManus, who has five runners left in. Next in the betting is Tom Gibney’s Intense Raffles. If you feel like an ante-post bet, I like the look of Meetingofthewaters, also owned by McManus (it has been backed from 50/1 to 20s), and Elliott’s Three Card Brag is well weighted, if he gets a run.
