Going - Hurdle/Bumper: Soft to Heavy Chase: Heavy. Fine
Trifecta Not Won. Pool of €8,532.60 carried forward to Naas on Sunday 20th February. Jackpot Pool - €21,502.00 Dividend - €264.30 Winning Units - 61. Placepot Pool - €19,302.84 Dividend - €23.10 Winning Units - 626. Days Aggregate - €105,626.18 Last Year €91,111.00
Tawaag a Cheltenham possible
you'd have to be happy with Tawaag after that as he hates that ground. Paul (Townend) said he jumped a bit sticky early on and while he'll have to brush up on that, he could be a stone better on better ground.
Rubi sees the Light
Rubi Light is probably one of the best jumpers in Ireland. He always was a great jumper but it is a pity he won over fences in France last season because that ruled him out of novice status here. we had a few quid on him at 200/1 for the Ryanair Chase yesterday and that race is now a big possibility! He'll also be entered in a few handicaps but may now be too highly rated. The deeper the ground is, the better it is for him.
The Sneezer completes double
Tom (Doyle) gave The Sneezer a great ride and gets on really well with him. he won over two miles the last day but we were more worried about the ground that the trip today as it is very heavy. The handicapper will have a grip over him now but we can't complain too much having had two nice wins.
Dunguib keeps dream alive
I'm very pleased with that on a number of counts. Firstly it was good to get his first run of the season under his belt. Secondly, he was an extremely sick horse five or six weeks ago and while he recovered from his infection (which resulted in a bad blood count) each week we were seeing improvement in him. We were lucky today's race was put back as I've been much happier with him in the last ten days. It was great not to have too hard a race today and it was just what he needed. He settled after a few hurdles today and his jumping improved as the pace increased and he was slick over the last three flights. We'll go straight for the Champion Hurdle now and today will keep the dream alive for another while!
Rigidity wins on hurdle debut
I'll have a chat with Rigidity's owner (Thomas Barr) before making a decision but my gut feeling is to maybe run him in a winners' of one hurdle at Limerick in the middle of March before going to Aintree. He's the type of horse who may need to strengthen up a bit.
O'Connell completes double
we'll go for another handicap with Lascalahall next . I though he'd like the ground a bit drier but he handled it well.
