Legend gets nod
The selection has to take on his main rival on 7lbs worse terms, compared to a handicap, so it takes a leap of faith to row in with Jessica Harrington’s charge.
But with the ground reportedly on the soft side, and plenty more rain forecast, Knight Legend might be better equipped to cope.
He has run two solid enough races of late, particularly his short head second behind Royal County Star at Killarney. The ten-year-old was also far from disgraced on his latest appearance when third behind Kahuna and Sanglote at Galway, both of those horses receiving lumps of weight from Knight Legend.
Jubilant Note is a smart sort at his best, failing by a length and a quarter to concede the Peter Bowen-trained, Histoire Du Mouers, some two stone at Stratford.
He is a hold-up horse and, in Ruby Walsh, has the ideal man to carry out such tactics. He may well sweep clear in the closing stages, but Knight Legend is fancied to outstay him.
Peter Casey’s Fingal Rock can defy top weight in the Costello McDermott Handicap over nine furlongs. The daughter of Rock Of Gibraltar was beaten half a length by Andre Mon Ami at Leopardstown last week and now runs off a mark a pound lower.
Another who may defy top weight is Keelaghan in the Betfair Handicap Chase. He was returning from a break when runner-up behind Meet The Parents at Killarney and this is a weak contest.
