Rock can take top spot
Jessica Harrington’s horses are in rude good health right now, she’s trained a whopping 57 winners for the campaign so far, and the mildly progressive five-year-old is fancied to add another to the total.
The selection produced his best performance to date at Naas last month when finishing a well beaten fourteen and a half lengths fourth behind Home Hunter, after running prominently for much of the trip.
The form is ordinary, but still gives him a real life in this moderate heat. If there is a good horse in the field then it is likely to be Willie Mullins’ once-raced Sports Line.
There didn’t appear to be any great confidence behind him when making his debut in a Punchestown bumper, but he did his job well to score going away by a length and a half. Top Of The Rock may have his measure, however, in receipt of 15lbs, including the claim of talented rider, Mark Bolger.
Whatever the fate of Sports Line, Mullins’ Out Matti is difficult to oppose in the Slievenamon Maiden Hurdle.
Easy winner of a Navan bumper, Our Matti made a good start over flights at Leopardstown when six lengths second behind the experienced Save The Bacon.
Ruby Walsh partners Our Matti and can also team up with Mullins to take the Clonmel Beginners Chase with Orge d’Ete. This fellow didn’t exactly make the ideal start over fences at Gowran Park when unseating Tom Doyle at the fourth, contest won by Four Chimneys. Hopefully, that was simply a temporary blip, because Orge d’Ete was easily the best of these over hurdles.
Some interesting newcomers are set to contest the Bumper, but from this range the nod falls on Dessie Hughes’ Rare Article, who performed with distinct promise first time out when fifth behind Powerfulpaddy in a maiden hurdle at Punchestown. The booking of Nina Carberry is hardly a minus.
