Beef Or Salmon main course at Cheltenham for Irish punters
For the fashion conscious, the best of the action had nothing to do with racing, but even the disinterested couldn’t resist a flutter on yesterday’s big race.
Although his name would suggest a main course, Beef Or Salmon provided the perfect appetiser for punters looking forward to Cheltenham with a reassuring win in yesterday’s Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown.
The new darling of Irish horseracing confirmed his growing reputation as the punters’ favourite with an impressive victory in the 160,000 race - his fourth win over fences on the trot.
Beef Or Salmon’s latest success has seen the novice’s odds for the Cheltenham Gold Cup slashed from 14/1 to 4/1 in the space of a few weeks.
Yesterday’s meeting, which is widely regarded as the perfect warm-up to the Cheltenham festival, attracted more than 16,000 racegoers who enjoyed the dry, sunny conditions at Leopardstown. The tasty treat was best summed up by Beef Or Salmon’s trainer, Michael Hourigan when he observed: “Roll on March.”
Sadly, Beef Or Salmon’s performance was counterbalanced by the demise of another racing legend, Florida Pearl - a former three-time winner of the same race - who was pulled up .
It wasn’t a particularly happy day either for multi-millionaire, J P McManus as his fancied runner, Le Coudray, suffered a heavy fall at the final fence in the Dr P J Moriarty Novice Chase.
The Swiss-based businessman was rumoured to be behind a 25,000 bet on the 8/15 favourite. None of his other four runners on yesterday’s card came home first either. There was no sign of horse-loving Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy, who probably decided his recent hint of taxing stud earnings might have him running for a different type of cover to his four-legged friends.
Instead, former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds was one of the few political types not afraid to hedge his bets as he joined members of his family for the steeplechase highlight of the year.
On a sadder note, the large gathering observed a minute’s silence in memory of the former national hunt jockey, Anthony Powell, who died tragically last week.
The 43-year-old rider, who was a winner of the 1989 Grand National on Maid of Money, was killed when his car was involved in an accident on The Curragh.
“There will be a huge void in our lives without Anthony Powell,” said RTÉ presenter, Tracy Piggott, who fought to hold back tears.
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