Compliance on the easy list
As low as 7-1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the seven-year-old lowered the colours of Gold Cup champion War Of Attrition on his last start in the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown.
In Compliance had been aimed at the Irish Hennessy Gold Cup but missed that race as Michael O’Brien was not 100% happy with his charge, who is still not at his best.
“He just doesn’t seem to be performing at the moment. He’s quite dull in himself and there just doesn’t seem to be any life in him,” said O’Brien. “His blood checks out fine and he scopes clean but for some reason he’s just not performing.
“We don’t have any clues at the moment. We have put him back on the easy list and he is just doing one canter a day and we’ll just play it by ear and see how he is over the next 10 days.
“If he doesn’t come round he won’t be going anywhere,” the County Kildare handler told At The Races.
Meanwhile O’Brien’s Forget The Past is still on course for the Ryanair Chase despite his lacklustre performance in the Hennessy Gold Cup earlier in the month.
Forget The Past excelled himself last season by finishing third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The nine-year-old reappeared with two victories this campaign but was never travelling in the Hennessy and finished fourth to Beef Or Salmon.
O’Brien blamed that display on the heavy ground, however, and still aims to run Forget The Past at the Cheltenham Festival.
“He disappointed last time and he doesn’t like that heavy ground – he never did go in it – although he has won a couple of races on it but they were egg-and-spoon races,” said the County Kildare handler.
“We knew he didn’t handle it well but we were disappointed with the way he travelled through the race.
“He looks great, he’s in good form now so we’ll just put it down to a one-off.
“The plan for him is still the Ryanair as the Gold Cup looks as if it is going to be a better race this year.
“We’ll discuss the Grand National after he runs at Cheltenham but he would get the good ground that he requires and there is a month in between this year,” O’Brien said.
