Cooldine the one to beat

THERE has been no racing in Ireland for 10 days, not since Navan on December 18, so the whole industry will be praying that both Leopardstown and Limerick today get the green light, following 7.30am inspections.

The feature at Leopardstown is the Grade 1 Lexus Chase and the vote goes to Cooldine, who has yet to totally fulfil his undoubted potential over fences.

A brilliant winner of the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2009, it just didn’t pan out for the eight-year-old last season, although he almost won the Hennessy on this track in February, on the back of a less than satisfactory preparation.