ROSS O’SULLIVAN
BAIE DES ISLES
6yo gr m (1336F/71246-0513)
Barastraight - Malownia
Mrs Z Wentworth
She’ll go for the Irish National. She ran well in the race last year and we gave her a break just to freshen her up after the Bobbyjo and she seems to be in very good form again now. She loves those extreme distances, but it is all about the ground for her, she must have it soft. Unless it yielding ground or worse, I’d say there is a chance that she won’t run.
She is a stronger mare this year. The Bobbyjo as it was a tough race. She is back in in very good form again and I am just hoping for a wet week. Rain on the day wouldn’t be any use to her and you saw when she won (the National Trial) at Punchestown that she is a different mare when the ground is very testing. I am not sure what way the weights will go and naturally you’d be hoping that they won’t go up too much.
Katie made the running when she won the National Trial at Punchestown but she doesn’t have to make it and once she gets in to a good rhythm she’ll be fine. As I said, I am just hoping that she gets her ground. She has been a star for us and to have a horse good enough to run in the National is very exciting for a yard like ours.
ELLMARIE HOLDEN
ABOLITIONIST
9yo b g (164/9121622-221)
Flemensfirth - All The Roses
Mrs Catherine Holden
He will go for the Irish National and all seems good with him. I was delighted with him at Naas and he has come out of that race in great form and he may have improved a bit since he won there. That was over three miles and I have no doubt that he’ll get the trip as he relaxes so well. He handles all types of ground and he won the last day on very deep, testing ground. But I’d say he would prefer a bit of nice ground.
We have had a great season and to have a horse good enough to run in a race like the Irish National is amazing really. Rachel (Blackmore) gets on very with him and she will ride him again at Fairyhouse. He has developed in to a very good staying chaser and this will be his stiffest test to date, but I think he’ll run a very big race and we are really looking forward to it. The form of the Troytown (he was second) has worked out very well and he hasn’t had a hard campaign and the National has been a plan for him for a while and the penalty he got for winning at Naas should help him get into the race.
EX-PATRIOT
4yo b g (1524)
Elusive Pimpernel-Carolobrian
Paul Holden
He has been in very good form since Cheltenham and I thought he ran very well in the Triumph over there. It was unfortunate what happened to him before the start, but it didn’t seem to bother him one bit and considering he has a busy the day before (at the sales), he took everything in his stride and nothing seems to faze him. He has a great temperament and he took the race very well and he seems to be in great form.
He just appears to be thriving and he will run again and we will have look at the Grade 2 at Fairyhouse and he has an entry in the Four-Year-Old Champion Hurdle at Punchestown. He will run in one of them and we’ll decide as to which one next week. He is another that seems to handle any ground - it was very soft when he ran in the Grade 3 at Fairyhouse and it was just lovely ground at Cheltenham. He is a very good mover and I’d say he would prefer nice ground. The fact that he acts so well around Fairyhouse is a plus, but we’ll let him tell us when to run him. It’s a lovely problem to have and he will make into a lovely chaser in time.
The two horses have done us proud this season and it is great for a small yard like ours to have horses like them. It’s just very exciting for us.
ROBBIE POWER
OUR DUKE
7yo b g (121P3-112)
Oscar - Good Thyne Jenny
Cooper Family Syndicate
Once the ground is safe, Our Duke will run in the Irish National. He lacks experience which is a concern, but the form he has shown in novice chases this season looks good and provided he gets a bit of luck in running, I’d be going there very optimistic of a very big run from him.
I have no worries about him getting the trip and as matters stand, he has a nice weight on his back, but you’d have to say that this is the classiest field to line up in an Irish National for a long time, so it won’t be easily won. But I’d give my horse a fighting chance in it and he won a Grade 1 on nice ground at Christmas time and once it is on the slow side of good it will be fine for him. We know he handles very soft ground, but he doesn’t need it. Novices have a very good record in the race and I think he goes there with a very good chance.
BARRY CONNELL
TULLY EAST
7yo b g (/16164-1621)
Shantou - Ghillie’s Bay
He is in the Ryanair Novice Chase at Fairyhouse, but he will more than likely head to Punchestown for the €100,000 novice handicap chase. He has been in very good form since he won at Cheltenham and that is the plan for him.
THE TULLOW TANK
9yo b g (/15642/073)
Oscar - Bobbing Back
He is in the National, but there is a handicap chase for him at Punchestown and I’d imagine that he’ll go there.
BAKMAJ
5yo b g (210)
Balko - Myralienne
He ran well for a long way in the Cheltenham Bumper and he will be a nice horse to go jumping with next year and he is finished for this season.
USEFUL SMURFER
9yo b g (010/024-22F)
Loxias - Dyscovery
He was a bit unlucky in the cross country race at Cheltenham and assuming all is well with him, he will more than likely line up in the La Touche at Punchestown.
FOXROCK
9yo b g ((43-5521111)
Flemensfirth- Midnight Light
He will go for the Irish National. He has enjoyed himself taking on lesser company this season and it (running up a sequence) has done his confidence the power of good. He will get in there with a nice weight on his back and he seems to be in great form. He is an out-and-out stayer and I think he has a great chance. Groundwise, he would prefer a bit of juice in the ground and I’d imagine that they will have it nice there. The trip is the main thing for him and his jumping is good. Hopefully he will be in contention on the last circuit and if he is, he may take a bit of beating.
A couple of seasons ago, he was running well in Grade 1s, but he is a 147/150 horse and you need to be in the 160s to be competitive in those Grade 1s. As well as that, you have a hard race every time you run in those races. He has had a good preparation and you can see that the spark is back and that is down to the fact that he has taken a drop in class and he has managed to get his head in front and that can really crown a horse like him. If he wins well and good - if he doesn’t, he’ll go back hunter chasing next year.
NOEL MEADE
We’ll have a good few runners at Fairyhouse and we’ll see how they are next week before we’ll finalise plans for the handicaps and the graded races. Monksland won’t run in the National.
BONNY KATE
7yo ch m (111P-6333P)
Beneficial -Peppardstown
Mrs Patricia Hunt
I am hoping that Bonny Kate will make the cut for that. We’ve had a dry week, but the ground is still slow enough at the minute and for her sake, I am hoping that it goes soft, as she is a better mare on soft and heavy ground.
This race has been the plan for her all season. She is a year older and she still needs a few to come out to make the cut, but she is in good shape. By the looks of things, she might have a nice weight on her back and if we get in it will be great.
RED JACK
4yo b g (1)
Mahler - Hollygrove Bonnie
John P McManus
He looked good when he won his bumper well at Naas. JP has bought him and the plan all along has been the Tattersalls Sales Bumper. All is good with him and he’ll go for that race on Sunday.
ROAD TO RESPECT
6yo ch g ((0143221)
Gamut- Lora Lady
Gigginstown House Stud
He is in the National, but he’ll go for the Ryanair Novice Chase. We haven’t done a lot with him since Cheltenham, but he looked very good when he won over there and he seemed to love the good ground. He jumped super and two and a half looks his trip. We’ll do a bit with him this week and see how he is, but at the minute that is the plan for him. Disko is also in that race but, I’d he’ll skip that and head for Punchestown.
SHE’S A STAR
5yo br m (15-112P)
Well Chosen - Lobinstown Girl
Philip J Meade Partnership
She has a bit do on ratings in the Grade 1 Mares’ Hurdle, but her owners are keen to let her take her chance in that so she’ll go there. She seems to be in good shape. She has won on all types of ground, but I think she is better on a bit of nice ground and if we are happy with her, that is where she’ll go.
SANDRA HUGHES
ACAPELLA BOURGEOIS
7yo ch g (1211-4F34116)
Network - Jasmine
Slaneyville Syndicate
He got very wound up at the start at Cheltenham and he ran his race beforehand (the RSA).
Roger said that he tried to do everything on one breath, and he was in trouble after jumping the third, so I’d be inclined to put a line through that run. Roger looked after him and he has he has been fine since.
He is in the Ryanair at Fairyhouse, but we’ll skip that and if Punchestown came up soft, he could go for the three-mile novice there and we also have the option of the Imperial Call Chase at Cork. I am sure that once he gets his conditions he’ll be a contender for those good staying chases next season. I wouldn’t be afraid to drop him back to two and a half if it came up really soft, but we saw when he won at Navan that once he gets into a rhythm, he is a better horse over three miles.
We’ll see what happens with the weather and I know they go a great job with the ground at Punchestown, but at the minute, I’d there is a good chance that he will run at Cork in the Imperial Call Chase on Easter Sunday.
The ground looked very soft down there last weekend so that is what I am looking at for him.
He has won on nice ground before and it was good at Cheltenham and he was perfect after the race - it is just that he is so much better on really testing ground.
I know he still a novice, but with Might Bite likely to come to Punchestown, he might go to Cork.
I think the track will suit him. I’d say he will be taking on seasoned graded horses down there, but that is what I am looking at for him at the minute.
ART OF PAYROLL
8yo b g (F645-9222343)
Shirocco - Anna Maria
Bishopsgate Syndicate
He won’t get in to the National, so he’ll go for the three mile and one handicap chase at Fairyhouse.
I was delighted with Phil’s Magic run the other day and both he and Total Recall will go for the novice handicap chase over two miles and five at Punchestown.
MOUSE MORRIS
THUNDER AND ROSES
9yo b/b g (0207226)
Presenting - Glen Empress
Gigginstown House Stud
He has won the National before and he seems to save his best form for Fairyhouse. He runs at Aintree and if he comes out of that in good form, there is every chance that he could run again in the Irish National.
He has plenty of experience and we’ll see how he closer to the time, but if I’m happy with him, there is every chance that he could turn out again.
He has form on all types of ground, but at this stage of his career, he would prefer some nice ground.
ALPHA DES OBEAUX
7yo b g (2-35113P4)
Saddler Maker - Omega Des Obeaux
Gigginstown House Stud
He is guaranteed a run and he has come out of Cheltenham in good shape. This season’s novice chasers look a smart bunch and on his day, he can mix it with the best of them.
He has had a light campaign and we saw last season that he seems to be a better horse in the spring and that most of his best form is on decent ground. The trip shouldn’t be an issue for him and although he is a novice, he has picked up enough experience this season over fences.
ROGUE ANGEL
9yo b g (6P41-080095)
Presenting - Carrigeen Kohleria
Gigginstown House Stud
He is also due to run at Aintree, he won the race last year and, like Thunder And Roses, we’ll see how he is next week. If I’m happy with him, there is every chance that he could turn out again. He likes nice ground and he seems to be in very good form. We’ll get Aintree out of the way first, and we’ll see how he is next week.
FIRST LIEUTENANT
12yo ch g (P057236U)
Presenting - Fourstargale
Gigginstown House Stud
He has enjoyed going the cross-country route this season and while he’d need a good few to come out, if he made the cut, he will also run.
He has a nice weight on his back and he was running well until he made a mistake and got rid of Mark in the cross-country chase at Cheltenham.
He is in great form and while he isn’t getting any younger, the spark is still there.