Our Ben will set the record straight
It’s not too bad when the love of your life, at that particular time, goes down to say the second favourite. But when he is trounced by a horse of which you had never previously heard then it takes a fair bit of swallowing.
Happened to me at Leopardstown at Christmas. Went through a beginners ’chase the way you might study for an important exam and concluded nothing would trouble Willie Mullins’ Our Ben.
Was on the track the following morning with plenty time to spare and called up the bookmakers’ prices on the internet.
Nearly had a seizure when noting Paddy Power had offered 5-1, but had quickly tightened Our Ben into 5-2.
It subsequently transpired that the 5-1 was an “error” on the part of the firm, that it was never available, although it did bear an uncanny resemblance to the price Our Ben was in that morning’s Racing Post! Anyway, thought the 5-2 was still mighty value, did the necessary, as one does, and sat back nice and smug and waited to collect.
Oh God, wrong again. As we are all aware by now Our Ben ran into the only unknown factor in the contest, a beastie called Nickname.
I’d never heard of him until getting the runners for the contest the previous day. A little research soon revealed he’d been a more than useful staying hurdler in France, but off for a long time, having his first outing over fences and on a surface getting worse by the minute couldn’t win! Wrong again.
Nickname absolutely trounced Our Ben by a whopping ten lengths and, indeed, was value for plenty more had Conor O’Dwyer so wished.
Our Ben beat everything else out of sight and to be deprived of the Christmas expenses, and the rest, in such a manner was difficult to take. It was a while before the mouth actually closed.
There’s no mystery now, of course, to understanding just why Our Ben couldn’t get to grips with Nickname.
Martin Brassil’s charge stepped into Grade Two company at Leopardstown on Sunday and was impressive enough, although it was a trifle disconcerting to note the manner in which he tired from the final fence.
Anyway, can’t wait to see Our Ben again. He is in at Naas on Saturday, in the three mile Woodlands Park 100 Club Novice ’Chase, but Willie Mullins has yet to make decision as to whether he will go there, it’s a Grade Two, or wait for a lesser test.
He is a horse I have always liked, right back to when he won his bumper at Limerick almost two years ago. Even then he had ’chaser written all over him.
But the day he really stood out as a possible future star was at last year’s Cheltenham Festival.
Our Ben went to Prestbury Park on the back of a shocking effort at Fairyhouse two months earlier. He contested the SunAlliance Novices’ Hurdle and was very much an outsider at 33-1.
But he ran the race of his life, roaring up the hill to fill third spot behind No Refuge and the biggest talking horse in England today, Henrietta Knight’s Racing Demon.
One has to regard Our Ben as a live SunAlliance Novices ’Chase prospect, but we badly need to see more of him.
* SOLERINA showed at Leopardstown at Christmas that she hates the place and dislikes running over three miles just as much.
At Naas, she is set to contest the two miles and three Cedar Building Hurdle and, whether Asian Maze takes her on or not, has to be an odds-on shot. Wouldn’t at all mind being wrong about that.
Hope Noel Meade gives us another look at Sweet Wake in the two mile novice hurdle. The ex-German horse created a big impression at Leopardstown when winning his maiden with any amount in hand.
* GETTING back to Nickname for a second, why were the layers so anxious to lay him last Sunday? There was no problem getting 11-8 throughout the morning and 5-4 was easily available on track. I thought he should have been an odds-on shot and, at least, he got us the Our Ben money back.
Nickname aside, that Leopardstown card didn’t have a whole lot to recommend it. One can rarely criticise the fare on offer at this track, but, traditionally, the Pierse Hurdle meeting leaves plenty to be desired.
Punters aren’t fools and know that four very hard-to-solve handicaps and a four-year-old bumper, with almost nothing to work off are not conducive to the possibility of a profitable day.
Surely, it is time that at least one of those handicaps is moved to another meeting and replaced by a conditions race.
