Kicking King can reign in Gold Cup
Rule Supreme’s switch to yesterday’s Stayers’ Hurdle means I’ll have to make do with watching the big race but, like everyone else, I’m really looking forward to a great battle.
The ground has dried out now and that might change a few things, even if they did water it last night. It certainly won’t suit the likes of Grey Abbey while I think Beef Or Salmon will have wanted more rain. Strong Flow’s won’t mind it so much but I think he’ll have wanted just a little bit more juice in it given his tendon problems in the past.
So with all that taken into the reckoning I’d go for Kicking King, who will definitely enjoy it out there. He can be a little bit keen in his races but if he settles well there should be no problems.
The only little bit of a question mark would be the illness he had recently but I’ve seen him riding out during the week and he’s looking fine and both the jockey Barry Geraghty and trainer Tom Taaffe are very happy with him.
There’s been talk that the withdrawal of three-time champion Best Mate and then those of Farmer Jack and Kingscliff have taken the shine of the Gold Cup but the magic is still there. Best Mate being here would have added a little to it because he was going for a fourth win but it’s a still a great race and still a very hard race to win.
While Kicking King gets my vote for the big one, my bet of the day would be Lord Atterbury in the Foxhunters’.
This 3m 2½f steeplechase is a hard race but this horse came third in the Grand National last year and he’s up to it.
I ride Strangely Brown in the opener, the Triumph Hurdle, and he has a little bit of a chance.
He's probably prefers a drop of rain but he’ll be staying on at the death. My selection though would be Cerium for Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh and whom the Arsenal legend Liam Brady has a quarter share in.
I know Ruby is very sweet on him and thinks he’s one of his better rides of the week, so you’d have to look at him.
The next race is the three-mile novices’ hurdle and I’ve been fancying Brewster all week although I’m not sure how he’ll handle the ground but I’ll take him to beat the rest.
In the Grand Annual I ride Ground Ball for Charlie Swan and we’ve a good chance.
He was second in the race last year and he’s in great order this year. The favourite though is L’Ange Du Ciel for Ruby and Paul Nicholls and I think he’s been laid out for this race all season.
That said, Charlie has yet to chalk up a winner as a trainer at the Festival and this could well be the chance to celebrate.
The last race is a lottery but if I had to make a choice it would be Crossbow Creek.
He was fourth in the Sunderlands Imperial Cup at Sandown at the weekend and this might come a little too soon but if he’s over that then he should run a big race.
Of course my main focus yesterday was on the feature race, the three-mile Ladbrokes World Hurdle, and our bid for glory on Rule Supreme.
You’ll recall Willie Mullins opted for this stayers’ hurdle rather than a tilt at the Gold Cup but it just wasn’t to be on the day.
Rule Supreme was beaten by two better horses on the day in the winner Inglis Drever and Baracouda and there are no excuses. I am very happy with the race we ran and the horse performed brilliantly and jumped very well. Softer ground may have helped him but he still ran a good race so, again, no complaints.
The next target for us is the French Champion Hurdle in the summer and he’ll probably have a race before he defends that crown at Auteuil but as to where we’re not sure yet.
As for next year’s Festival, it’s a long way off but I can definitely see him coming back for another crack. He’s only been beaten by three or four lengths so he hasn’t a whole lot of ground to make up and on a different day he may get a different result. Whether he goes for the Gold Cup next year, who knows, we’ll have to get him there first, so we’ll hold judgement on that.
