Fistful of Gold Cup regrets for Meade
Ireland’s champion trainer, who has overcome a dreadful run of form just in time for the showpiece meeting, admits he would have run the lightly-raced 10-year-old in the blue riband event – if he had entered him.
As a result, he is unlikely to be asked to carry a big weight in the William Hill Trophy and is more likely to run at Aintree instead.
“He’ll probably have to carry top-weight after Saturday, we’ll just see what he gets,” said Meade.
“I can’t imagine he will be too well-in to be honest. He’s beaten Willie’s (Mullins) horses (Snowy Morning and Hedgehunter) that are both rated in the 150s and he was only 138 so I can imagine him having top-weight.
“I don’t know if I’ll run him with top-weight so he’ll probably stay at home, there are a good few conditions races but the one I’d be thinking about now is the (totesport) Bowl race at Aintree.
“To be honest if I had him in the Gold Cup I’d run him in it, but I wasn’t thinking he was up to that level.
“But that was only his fourth start over fences and he’ll have some improvement in him, even though he is 10.
“He’s had a lot of problems, he broke his pelvis when he won his novice chase and had to miss the whole season.
“I was expecting to run him in the Irish National but that is probably out now and he is more a conditions horse anyway.”
Meanwhile, Zaarito, as short as 7-2 for the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival with some bookmakers, is still on course for the race.
With Tom Mullins ruling his contender Time Electric a non-runner, Colm Murphy’s six-year-old has strengthened his position at the head of the betting.
And while he will be doing nothing strenuous between now and the big meeting, Murphy expects the likely good ground at Cheltenham to suit the unbeaten gelding.
“He’s very good, we are happy with him,” said Murphy.
“We’ll just keep ticking away with him and he won’t do any serious work before the race. Hopefully we get there.
“I think he is better on good ground because he is such a good actioned horse. The ground should be fine and he ran on very quick ground during the summer and that didn’t bother him.
“We haven’t decided on a jockey yet but we’ll be having a chat with the owners soon and sorting something out.”
Megans Joy has emerged as a doubt for the Anglo Irish Bank Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Colm Murphy’s six-year-old mare burst onto the scene early in the season when rattling off a five-timer, before finishing fourth in the Grade One Royal Bond in December.
She has not been since, however, and Murphy accepts he faces a race against time to get her back to peak fitness.
“I was hoping that I would have been able to get a run into her but it all seems to be coming a bit quick,” said Murphy.
“She hasn’t quite come back to herself as quickly as I thought she would.
“At the moment I would say that she is far from certain to be running.
“She might do a piece of work after racing at the weekend and we’ll see then, but it (the Supreme) is getting more unlikely.
“The weather hasn’t helped and she was on the go a long time before that as well. I’ll keep all options open with her and I won’t rule her in or out until the weekend.”
