Muir heads Ascot Irish hopes
The in-form Muirhead leads a four-pronged Irish challenge on the United House Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Ascot on Saturday.
Noel Meade’s charge showed his well-being with victory in the Munster National at Limerick three weeks ago and bids to follow up in this highly-competitive three-mile contest.
“He’s in great form and I’m very happy with him. He travelled over and is enjoying his time in Ascot,” said Meade.
“We have our fingers crossed he’ll give a good run.
“He’s gone up a bit in the weights and he’s a little bit higher in England as well, but we’ll see how we go.”
Bideford Legend was a length and three-quarters behind Muirhead in second place at Limerick and he, too, has settled in well at the Berkshire track.
“He arrived there on Thursday afternoon and is in good old form,” said his trainer Charles Byrnes.
“He’s been running well in some good races in Ireland, but keeps going up the handicap without winning.
“I don’t think good ground would be a problem for him and he’s in good order, so I’d hope he’ll run another good race.”
Eoin Griffin’s The Last Derby, who sprang a 33-1 surprise in this race two years ago, and the Adrian Maguire-trained Golden Kite complete the Irish quartet.
Chipping Norton handler Charlie Longsdon is hoping Ostland can put up a bold display before going on a winter holiday.
The six-year-old has been victorious four times since May and showed he remains in great shape when winning by 48 lengths at Huntingdon recently.
“It’s a 100 grand race, so it was going to stand up well and it’s a very classy race. It will be in interesting to see how we get on,” said Longsdon.
“He’s a novice running against seasoned pros. Quinz was very progressive last year and we’re only getting 10lb off him.
“We want as good a ground as possible. He’s got all the class in the world, so we’ll just see how we get on.
“He’s in great form, he loves the ground and will be ridden very positively.
“It’s a big task, but off a mark of 143 there’s not much else to go to before he has a winter break.”
