Racing’s wheel of fortune turns in Dreaper’s favour
As the successor to his father Tom at the family base at Kilsallaghan in north Co. Dublin, Jim Dreaper has himself been an integral part of racing legend as it was in this place that the greatest chaser of them all, Arkle, was trained.
Having taken over from his father in the early ‘70’s, Jim Dreaper added to the family legacy early in his career with the victory of Ten Up in the 1975 Cheltenham Gold Cup and also produced Brown Lad to win the Irish Grand National in 1975, ‘76 and ‘78 and it appeared then that he could possibly surpass even the remarkable record of his father.
But racing doesn’t always work that way and despite producing horses of the calibre of Carvill’s Hill, Merry Gale, Harcon and others, fashion and fortune have latterly consigned him to being one of the lesser lights in the Irish National Hunt scene.
This year, however, the wheel of fortune turned in Jim Dreaper’s favour and a horse called Notre Pere has once again put him in the spotlight.
Having won the Welsh Grand National last December in appalling conditions, he was subsequently pulled out of the Cheltenham Gold Cup as a result of a small piece of birch in his leg (picked up in the Chepstow race) when, in any event, the ground came up too firm for him.
Yesterday, however, the ground came good for him and he duly bolted up as the 15/8 favourite in the Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup, slaying a very decent field of home-based challengers and a host of British raiders.
In fact at one point at four out in yesterday’s contest, it appeared that he would be the only serious Irish challenger, as the British contingent struck for home with Roll Along, Imperial Commander, Gungadu, Air Force One and Albertas Run, all looking likely winners.
But then Notre Pere’s jockey Andrew Lynch mounted his challenge and while Dreaper later admitted that his charge was forced to go “from very far out,” he was confident the eight-year-old would have the staying power to see him home in front.
The soft to heavy going here yesterday suited Dreaper’s charge to a tee and the trainer said “it was no secret” that it had come up right for his horse while it did not “suit the others as well.”
The thing was, though, that Notre Pere still has that piece of Welsh birch in his leg and this was a major concern for the connections.
“He has had a four millimetre piece of birch in his leg since Chepstow and it just something that can happen when they drag their legs through a fence. The vets. found it later on thanks to ultrasound. The trouble was that it could have flared up at any stage, just as it did before Cheltenham.
“But, we got him here in good shape and I’m delighted to get today out of the way. He is going to have it removed next Tuesday,” the trainer reported.
Despite the piece of stick in his leg, Dreaper said Notre Pere had been bang on for today and the punters here obviously thought so too because they backed him in from a morning price of 7/2 to his starting price of 15/8 and there were very few crestfallen faces in the ring afterwards – aside of course from the bookies.
They were feeling sore and sorry for themselves after taking a pasting in the big one, just 35 minutes after Philip Fenton’s Dunguib – who is now generally no better than 4/1 for next year’s Supreme Novices’ at Cheltenham – thrashed the opposition in the paddy Power Champion INH Flat race, just has he had done in the Cheltenham Bumper.
There were obviously few feeling sorry for the bookies – few enough perhaps because yesterday’s attendance was down over 3,000 on last year’s figure – but it was certainly a good day for the punters who had so obviously waded in on both Dunguib and Notre Pere.
For Philip Fenton, there is the certain knowledge that he has one of the best novices in the country in his charge, while for Jim Dreaper there are still Gold Cup dreams to be dreamt.
He does admit that his horse might not be of the same class as a Denman or a Kauto Star, but there is always the possibility that if the ground comes up soft in Cheltenham next March, he could have the right machine for the job.
The wheel has turned for Jim Dreaper since his early successes. And who knows, it might have a few more revolutions left in it.
Now that would be a romantic racing story.
