Footpad set to step out in style at Leopardstown

The real Trials Days take place at Leopardstown and you can bet the tank it will produce a share of Cheltenham winners, writes Pat Keane

Well, if they don’t arrive in droves to Leopardstown this weekend then it will be seriously disappointing.

The Dublin Racing Festival concept should work and surely Leopardstown today and tomorrow has to hope for an aggregate attendance of close to 30,000.

It is universally accepted this is a fantastic concept, with €1.5m in prizemoney and no less than seven Grade 1’s spread over the two days.

Last Saturday at Cheltenham was dubbed (Cheltenham) Trials Day, but everyone knows that is a relic of the past, with the power base in National Hunt racing right now firmly set in Ireland.

The Brits only won nine of their 28 races at last year’s Cheltenham festival and that essentially tells you all you need to know.

When racing had finished at Cheltenham a week ago, you were left with the overriding feeling that, with the exception of the Nicky Henderson-trained Apple’s Shakira, not too many other festival possibilities were on show.

No, the real Trials Days take place at Leopardstown and you can bet the tank it will produce a share of Cheltenham winners.

The overall programme has to be described as well-nigh perfect. There can be absolutely no complaints when just five of the 15 races on offer are handicaps. Another bonus was the 48-hour declaration for both days.

There are three Grade 1’s today and four tomorrow and ending both afternoons with bumpers, exactly what most punters want, is simply ideal. The absence of a significant British challenge is of no importance whatsoever. The Brits know there are top-class Irish horses around literally every corner and they are basically weak right now.

They got battered out of the gate on their own patch at Cheltenham in March and it would make no sense to believe things might be any different at an away game.

Leopardstown is going to reveal so much. Will it work when it comes to bums on seats and who can enjoy a day in the sun, taking on the fearsome Mullins and Elliott battalions?

The most important thing we are going to learn is where Faugheen is at, in this afternoon’s Irish Champion Hurdle.

There has been no explanation for his dismal showing at Leopardstown at Christmas, so today will tell us if he was a victim of the bounce factor, or is just gone at the game.

Petit Mouchoir twice finished in front of Footpad over flights and they renew rivalry in the Arkle Novice Chase. Footpad, however, has shaped as a brilliant chaser in the making and here’s one who will be more than surprised should he fail to emerge as a decisive winner on this occasion.

Footpad and Samcro are my idea of Cheltenham bankers at this stage and the latter can hardly be opposed in tomorrow’s Deloitte Novice Hurdle.

There are those who think Samcro may be more about speed than stamina and the two-miles of the Deloitte could confirm such thinking is right on the money.

Value bets of the weekend? Well, I’m inclined to side with Min, ahead of hot pot stable companion, the enigmatic Yorkhill, in the Coral Dublin Chase today, while Invitation Only rates a solid each-way in tomorrow’s Flogas Novice Chase.

THAT maiden hurdle, won by Maeve’s Choice at Fairyhouse last Saturday, made for excruciating viewing.

This was for horses that had never finished in the first three in any race and I fail to understand how such contests have any merit.

Alright you can argue it gives those at the bottom of the food chain a chance of a pay-day, but can a first prize of just over €8,000 mean much more than connections staying in the game for another ten minutes?

As well as that there were only ten runners, so it wasn’t as if people were falling over themselves to take part. In a race as bad as that anything was possible, of course, and it was no surprise victory went to a 20-1 shot, who just struggled up the straight better than his even more moderate rivals.

Then at Punchestown on Tuesday, we had a beginners’ chase confined to horses with a rating of 102 or less over hurdles. If there is such a crying need for this sort of rubbish why did the race only attract seven runners?

These bad horses, those who showed at both Fairyhouse and Punchestown, should be running in races that are available to them, bad handicaps, and not be allowed to greatly reduce the quality of racecards.

THERE is no other sport, at least none I can think of, where women have to compete on equal terms against men, except horse racing.

There was a time when you would not dream of backing a horse ridden by a woman and it had nothing to do with male chauvinism, no it was very much part of the art of survival.

But that has long changed, as emphasised by a terrific last weekend for the ladies. Bryony Frost and Lizzie Kelly were seen to great effect at Cheltenham on Saturday, scoring on Frodon and Agrapart respectively.

Kelly’s success was particularly notable, as she guided Agrapart to win the Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle, getting the better of a tough battle with Daryl Jacob and Wholestone.

Then at Naas on Sunday we saw two excellent examples of lady riders, who are more than capable of holding their own against the best.

I am a massive fan of Rachael Blackmore and she was quite superb in landing a handicap chase for Mouse Morris on Wishmoor.

Now that eight-year-old is no star, but the manner in which she got him jumping, got him into a rhythm and kept the horse together up the straight was most impressive. The fact he carried the Gigginstown colours won’t do Ms Blackmore any harm at all.

Likewise, Katie Walsh was outstanding aboard the nicely supported The Big Dog, 10-1 to 7-1, in the bumper. Katie was as strong as any man in the straight and look back at the contest and see how quickly she switched her whip from the left hand to the right, when the need was greatest.

IF Willie Mullins’ Laurina isn’t a Grade 1 winner in waiting then it’ll be surprising. At Fairyhouse last Saturday, she made a big impression when landing a Grade 3 mares’ novice hurdle by 11 lengths.

Lightly-raced, this was only the fourth outing of her life. Laurina ran twice at Fontainbleau in France, falling on her debut and then finishing second. She then won her maiden at Tramore on December 14, taking a poor race doing half-speed by 15 lengths.

Fairyhouse represented a huge step up in class, but Laurina destroyed decent rivals and the way she bounded clear from the final flight indicated there is enormous scope for improvement.

The only worry, with Cheltenham in mind, is her ability to handle a quicker surface, with the ground at Fontainbleau, on both occasions, described as very soft and it was heavy when she ran at Tramore and Fairyhouse.