Gwencily Berbas© Photo Healy Racing
Punters only want one horse in the early betting on the Text Your Bet To Paddy Power On 51465 Fishery Lane Hurdle (Grade 3) at Naas this afternoon and surprisingly it is not the odds-on Willie Mullins trained favourite.
Dual Grade 1 winner Petite Parisienne has ten pounds in hand of Gwencily Berbas on adjusted ratings for today's contest, but it is the latter that is tumbling in price.
Gwencily Berbas was generally 9/4 (11/4 Ladbrokes) when betting opened last night but is now a best price of 11/8 with the race sponsor and may yet challenge the Mullins mare for favouritism.
Connections of Gwencily Berbas chose the Fred Winter over the Triumph at Cheltenham in March because they thought he was well-treated off a mark of 139. The race possibly came too soon for him as he had had a rushed preparation.
Alan Fleming said after his debut victory at Fairyhouse last February: "He's a lovely horse, a real nice horse. I said before the race that he hadn't an awful lot of work done and we rushed him a bit to get him here. We'll have to make a decision now in a week or ten days whether to go to Cheltenham or elsewhere. We'd very much like to go to Cheltenham (entered in Triumph Hurdle and Fred Winter), and we'll have to see. We were intending to sit upsides Gordon's horse but he wasn't keen to lead. He's a good genuine honest horse, and whatever he does over hurdles he's a chaser. I'm chuffed as that's my first National Hunt winner in Ireland."
