Mourad should have the measure of Jumbo Rio
Right from the time betting began for the race, Willie Mullins’ Pomme Tiepy has been ante-post favourite and that’s probably understandable.
She certainly catches the eye off just 10-7 and there was plenty to like about the way she finished behind Majestic Concorde at Leopardstown at Christmas.
But I’m not convinced. When you see a horse, as she did at Leopardstown, running past tired rivals at the end of a contest it can give a very false impression.
She ran well in the Troytown at Navan and then better again at Leopardstown, so Willie is entitled to fancy her chances. I just have my doubts, however.
Willie has two other runners, Ballytrim and The Midnight Club. As he gets older, Ballytrim seems to need nice ground and is not going to get that.
I will be more than interested in the performance of The Midnight Club. I suppose it is asking too much of him to carry 11-3 on his seasonal reappearance, but there is definitely a good handicap in the horse.
As far as the Thyestes is concerned I’m going to sit on the fence, but recommend Willie’s Mourad in the Grade 2 hurdle.
Mind you there isn’t much between him and Jumbo Rio on previous battles and, indeed, you could make a case for Edward O’Grady’s charge actually being superior.
I thought Mourad was good when winning at Leopardstown, though, and three miles holds no fears for him. Jumbo Rio is untried at the trip and that would have to be a worry.
There are just six in the novice chase and it would be no exaggeration to say you could find fault with them all.
If you put a gun to my head I’d probably row in with Mouse Morris' The Hurl. I know he ran poorly at Limerick, but did okay prior to that at Thurles.
At Ascot today it will be case of hoping the real Master Minded appears in the Victor Chandler Chase.
He’s come right back to his best form this season, at Ascot and Cheltenham, and, hopefully, will carry on the good work.
He was good at Ascot, but even more impressive at Cheltenham, where he exploded up the straight for Noel Fehily.
I’ve been hearing people making a case for Petit Robin against him and that, obviously, has a lot to do with the current form of Nicky Henderson’s horses.
Of course you have to respect anything Nicky sends out right now, but the bottom line is Master Minded beat Petit Robin by eight lengths at Cheltenham.
I want to be with another of Paul Nicholls’ horses, Robinson Collonges, in a Grade 2 chase for novices at Haydock
He’s back where he belongs now, after finding the Paddy Power at Cheltenham all too much when down the field behind Poquelin.
I will be keeping a close watch on Don’t Turn Bach in a two and a half mile novice hurdle at Haydock. Successful in two bumpers for Willie Mullins, he ran way below expectations at Warwick, but surely hasn’t become a bad horse overnight!
TOMORROW is all about Leopardstown and Hurricane Fly in the Irish Champion Hurdle. He has been terrific so far this season and I just cannot see how we can oppose him.
He beat, arguably, his most dangerous rival, Solwhit, decisively at Leopardstown at Christmas and it makes no difference how the race is run.
If they go fast, he’ll come there swinging in the straight and a slow pace won’t matter either, he’s the fastest horse in the field.
Willie’s Day Of A Lifetime won’t be far away in the first, a maiden hurdle. Forget that he made no show in the Cheltenham Bumper in March, he was beaten even before the race started.
The six-year-old seemed to hate the whole experience. He’s working really well at the moment and jumps brilliantly.
Willie’s Flat Out has a great chance in the Arkle. This is a good horse and you couldn’t fault his first pop over fences at Punchestown, even if he did blunder at the last, where I thought he was quite superb.
Ballyhaunis, who missed Naas last weekend due to the heavy ground, is highly regarded by Willie and won’t be far away in the novice hurdle.
