Meeting Review: Leopardstown - February 10th, 2008

Positives: Tony Martin’s appeal against a 16lbs hike in the ratings for Psycho’s last win was made look ridiculous as the 7yo looked like hacking up in the 2m handicap hurdle before falling at the final hurdle. He got a further 9lbs for this run but it won’t matter as he’s unfeasibly well-handicapped. Agus A Vic [WON Punchestown, 26/4 - 5/1] confirmed my belief that he’s the best hunter chaser around in winning the Raymond Smith Memorial under Jason McKeown. His jockey may not be stylish but he gets the job done and I hope he takes his chance in the Cheltenham Foxhunters. Arthur Moore doesn’t have too many bumper winners but Jaffonien landed the closing event in taking style. The French-bred beat all the right horses with gambled on Bantry Commons and form pick Themoonandsixpence filling the frame and he looks a serious recruit.

Negatives: Temlett and Cork All Star (who continues to jump poorly) are similar types in that their reputations precede them and both were disappointing in their respective novice hurdles. Neither is likely to offer value in the betting in the near future. Big Zeb made what looked like a winning move in the Moriarty only to be caught out by a staying on J’y Vole. For a horse of his ability, his win to run ratio is poor (just 2 wins in 10 starts) and my gut feeling is he has a hole in him and will continue to find ways to lose. Snowy Morning is not a bad horse by any stretch of the imagination – he’s won more than half of his 13 starts after all. However, how he was promoted to Grand National favouritism after his run in the Hennessy is beyond me. The 8yo may be well-in after being hiked to a mark of 155 but he doesn’t jump anywhere near well enough to win over the big obstacles. In the longer term, he could well become a twilight horse.

Pointers: Martin Mooney rode Won In The Dark [WON Punchestown, 26/4/08 - 4/1] as if Temlett was the only horse he had to beat in the juvenile hurdle and was keen to keep tabs on the Mullins horse. In retrospect, Mooney was on by far the best horse in the race and he ridden his mount for a turn-of-foot, I have little doubt he would have emerged on top. In winning the Moriarty, J’y Vole became the ninth winner in 11 renewals to have had no more than 3 chase starts before running here. Had I known that, I may not have wasted my money on Sky’s The Limit! The Hennessy continues to be a strong trends race and we should concentrate on proven Grade 1 horses with course form and proven over 3m, of which The Listener was one.