Positives: Interrupted preparation? So what. 19lbs to find at the weights? No matter. The performance of Sizing Europe in winning the AIG was brilliant and Andrew McNamara was simply sitting aboard a steering job here. Dual Champion Hurdle winner Hardy Eustace has rarely been so easily dispatched and Henry De Bromhead’s 6yo looks the real deal with a view to Cheltenham. Proven at the course, he goes on any ground and just about the only worry with him is his jumping which can be a bit big.
Negatives: Sizing Africa shares much in common with Sizing Europe, though not his aptitude for hurdling. One of the smartest bumper performers around last term when he won at Gowran and Fairyhouse, his fourth place finish in the 2m maiden was the fourth time in as many hurdles starts that he’s failed to make the frame. He’s disappointing and over-hyped. With the leading trio falling at the last, The Budgee was a hugely fortuitous winner of the Clarkson Handicap Chase over 2m3f. Any hike the ratings will be too much and it’s impossible to take this win as evidence that he truly stays beyond 2m. Glenrock Leader has been on the go since September and may have found this one race too in the 2m4f novice hurdle. He looked listless in the parade ring and was a sorry sight when returning to the stables after the being pulled up. Conditions suited here (he was unbeaten in 3 starts on soft or slower before this) so he looks over the top and couldn’t be supported if running again before the season’s end. Next term would be a different story however, and he’s an intriguing novice chase prospect.
Pointers: Noel Meade’s stable continues to be in rank form and the fact that Aitmatov and Gem Daly, a pair of horses who hadn’t been seen since running well in Grade 1 races in the December when the stable was flying, both ran shockers has to be a major concern for the Castletown handler. It would be hard to back anything from the yard in the current climate and such doubts are hardly ideal for Muirhead ahead of his likely tilt at the Deloitte in 2 weeks. English trainers have long exploited the allowance system over fences, so much so that it’s been reduced this season, and Willie Mullins is doing likewise with his pair of French bred 5yo mares, Pomme Tiepy and J’y Vole. The duo have run 5 times between them this season, winning every time at odds of 11/4, 8/11, 11/10, 4/6 and 5/4. Both are classy performers that jump well and their weight advantages will continue to make them difficult to stop. Callherwhatulike was well fancied in the 3-miler but she was simply in a race she couldn’t win as she doesn’t see out the trip. She travelled well and a return to 2m4f will suit though some have suggested her weakening in the straight had a more sinister cause. With a totally of 8 falls or unseats in the 3 chases (from just 31 runners), there was further evidence that the fences at Leopardstown are ultra-stiff. Bad jumpers need not apply at the Hennessy meeting and beyond.
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