Cork can still star, says Geraghty
The Cheltenham Champion Bumper winner was expected to take high rank among this seasons novice hurdlers, but has lost his last two starts.
He appeared to have the Grade One Royal Bond Hurdle in the bag before a bad mistake at the last handed the race to Muirhead, but never looked like winning last time out.
“He didn’t perform as we thought last time,” said Geraghty.
“He should have won the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse, but he just left his hind legs in the last hurdle.
“He felt great that day, he travelled really well, but I didn’t get the same feel at Leopardstown.
“He’ll run back at Leopardstown at the Hennessy meeting in February (Deloitte Novice Hurdle) and we’ll be hoping for the same kind of show that he put up at Cheltenham or in the Royal Bond. I’d still be very hopeful,” he said.
Meanwhile, Time Electric could head straight for the Cheltenham Festival in March without the aid of another run due to the testing ground in Ireland.
The six-year-old was well supported prior to his bumper debut at Leopardstown last month and landed a few hefty bets when turning in a hugely-impressive performance to score by eight lengths.
That victory propelled him to the head of the market for the Champion Bumper and although he holds an entry at Gowran Park tomorrow, trainer Tom Mullins is wary of running his charge on very testing ground before the big day.
Mullins said: “I think we can safely say it is going to be too heavy at Gowran so we’ll probably give it a miss. I haven’t really looked to see where he might go next, but I can’t see anything in the near future.
“If there is a winners’ bumper somewhere and the ground was right we might have a go, but I wouldn’t want to take a chance on him so close to Cheltenham.
“There is every chance he could go straight there as the ground in Ireland is horrendous at the moment.”
Time Electric is a best-priced 8-1 for Cheltenham with Paddy Power.
Meanwhile, Mullins has yet to decide where Made In Taipan will run this weekend, with the six-year-old currently engaged at Cheltenham on Saturday and Leopardstown on Sunday.
