Celestial Haloset to enhance Champion Hurdle claims
I have always liked him and think he’s a good horse. You can argue his score so far over flights is only two from five, but there was little disgrace in being beaten by Sentry Duty and twice by Binocular.
I schooled Celestial Halo during the week and was delighted with him, he really looks great right now and seems to be at the peak of his powers.
I could not have been more pleased with his first run of the season behind Binocular at Ascot. Binocular bounded past us in the end, but my lad is entitled to improve plenty for the run.
Of course Osana, who was second in last year’s Champion Hurdle, is entitled to the utmost respect. I know it’s his first run of the campaign, but, coming from Pond House, that’s hardly a worry.
Anyway, I’ve ridden in just about all of the Champion Hurdle trials this season, in Britain and Ireland, and think Binocular’s defeat of Celestial Halo at Ascot stands head and shoulders over all of the others.
Today, we get 4lbs from Osana and, if we can’t beat him now, then you can be pretty certain we won’t at Cheltenham in a couple of weeks.
Riding Herecomesthetruth is an exhilarating experience and I’m really looking forward to him in the novice chase. At the start of the season, I didn’t think him capable of winning a Grade 1, but he has a big chance of achieving that now.
He beat subsequent winner Presenting Copper at Chepstow and that seems smart form. His brilliant jumping didn’t half put experienced handicappers to the sword over the first five fences then and I’m just hoping he can get these novices into trouble with a similar performance.
His major asset is jumping and I’d say I’m going to have to take a chance or two along the way, because he does lack that little touch of class which is often so vital in this type of contest.
I will be setting him alight at those seven fences down the back and, with Sandown all about jumping, let’s see where that takes us.
My other two rides are in handicaps and I’m just hoping for the best. Otto Des Pictons, over hurdles, has no weight to carry, but is a funny horse. He ran alright at Chepstow the last day and I’m hoping has an each-way chance.
New Little Bric, over fences, actually has a serious engine, but getting it out of him is the problem. He’s had a breathing operation and just about everything else as well and could win, or pull up.
I can hardly wait to get on Mikael d’Haguenet again in the Grade 2 novice hurdle at Naas tomorrow.
He has been incredible in winning his three races in Ireland so far and I just hope keeps it going. I rode him during the week and he couldn’t be better, clean-winded and so sound.
I’m probably boring you at this stage about Mikael, but he just excites me so much. He could be a huge horse for Willie Mullins and has the potential to be famous.
Scotsirish has a bit to find on ratings with Big Zeb, Mansony and Watson Lake in the Grade 2 chase, but I wouldn’t be getting off him for anything.
Mansony and Watson Lake had hard races in bad ground at Fairyhouse relatively recently and that might have left its mark! Big Zeb is already a Grade 1 winner, at the Punchestown Festival.
That was the day Tony McCoy and myself tore away in front. I must have been confused into thinking I was on Master Minded and McCoy seemed to feel Viking Flagship was under him.
Of course we were on lesser beasts in J’vole and Pearce Rock and both, understandably, eventually died a thousand deaths. Barry Geraghty, more power to him, minded his own business on Biz Zeb and cantered past us as if we were stopped.
Big Zeb made an excellent return when winning at Leopardstown at Christmas and is a decent horse. But Scotsirish stays much further than two miles, he bolted in at Cork, and has a real chance of turning over Big Zeb.
Sonnium has become disappointing and is hard enough to fancy in the three mile handicap hurdle, but expect a solid effort from Ballytrim in the three and a half mile National Trial.
You might think he made little or no show in the fog at Fairyhouse, but David Casey, who rode him, seemed happy enough. This will be a slog, but he has a smashing weight and I’ll be looking for a good performance.
Right onto other matters. I rode Denman at Wincanton yesterday morning at 7.50, indeed it wasn’t even fully bright. We went two miles on the flat with Neptune Collonges and Sam Thomas.
They both went nicely, off a tasty gallop, without killing either of them. Certainly, Denman is showing no ill-effects of his well-publicised problems and Sam, Paul Nicholls and I were delighted. It was just a lovely day away for the horses.
I was supposed to go to Chepstow in the afternoon, but that was abandoned, so instead went to visit Mr McCoy. I was especially intent on giving him a slagging about all the publicity he’s been getting in the Racing Post this week.
Seriously, though, isn’t the man a phenomenon, with the magical 3,000 winners just round the corner. He is so dedicated, so determined and with the talent to go with it.
I got suspended for a day at Leopardstown last Sunday, too much of the whip, after winning a neck on Conem. What was I supposed to do?
This was a ding-dong struggle and my horse kept going forward. Getting done on a horse who is going nowhere is fine, but I believe if I had hit him one less blow we would have been beaten. Then I could have been accused of stopping Conem.
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t!
