Going - Heavy (4th last fence omitted due to ground conditions). Windy and raining
Jackpot Pool - €3,000.00 Dividend - €344.20 Winning Units - 6.1. Placepot Pool - €44,344.85 Dividend - €44.20 Winning Units - 701.79. Pick Six Pool - €10,000.00 Dividend - €1,842.10 Winning Units - 3.8. Days Aggregate - €202,654.00 Last Year €150,945.00
Elliott juvenile books Fred Winter ticket
that was grand. The horse had a bit of experience and I suppose it stood to him. He's not a bad horse and he'll win plenty of races. He's getting stronger the whole time and he didn't mind that ground. He'll probably go for the Fred Winter now all being well.
Red Mills winner to be supplemented for Champion Hurdle
the first half of Luke's plan has gone to plan anyway!. I thought he was very impressive what he did, especially after his mistake at the third last. What he did in between the third last and the last was what impressed me. It's very hard for any horse to be impressive, visually, on that ground and in that weather. I'd imagine that might mean he goes to the Champion Hurdle now. It was debated what chance would he have in the Champion Chase and what chance might he have in the Champion Hurdle. It was decided then that we'd run today, see what happens and that would make up our mind. We keep coming back to saying that he has as much of a chance in the Champion Hurdle as he has in the Champion Chase. That's the reasoning behind where we are going.
Fakir scores for Gigginstown, O'Brien and Brown
in that ground they drop away as the race goes on and this horse was handling it. He won obviously in Limerick at Christmas time so we thought he would handle it and he got a good ride. He unseated the last day in Down Royal but he won impressively there and he'll be up in grade after that.
Chris's Dream wins Gowran's Red Mills Chase
he seemed to jump a little bit right and go right, I'm not sure about that but it's great he won and Rachael was brilliant on him. After a couple or three runs he seems to lose his form so that's why we purposely put him away for now. At the back end of each season he can be a bit disappointing but when he's on song he really does battle. He's in the Ryanair and he's in the Gold Cup so we'll see. We'll see how he is, as I say he doesn't take too many runs so we felt we had to come here and it's great to win this. We'll enjoy today and then see what we want to do. He won the Ten Up on goodish ground last year so I don't think that ground is a necessity. I still don't know why his form tails off a bit, I think there are only three or four runs in him.
De Bromhead & Blackmore combine for Gowran double
he looked to be going well in Naas and obviously fell and it looks like he's more-or-less learned his lesson from there hopefully. He jumped really well and was clever today. Rachael took her time and she said he picked up well up the straight. It's brilliant for his owner Niall O'Leary. He's improving all the time and we could maybe look at the novice handicap at Cheltenham. We'll see how he is as he's been busy enough recently. I think he's only learning and I was half tempted to go back hurdling mid-way through this season. We bought him after one run in a point-to-point and it's just taken so long for the penny to drop about the whole thing. He's still getting there but is improving all the time.
Beaten horses catch the eye as McManus wins 'Careys Cottage'
that was great. He's an idle type of a lad and he's never going to be too flash. He jumped better today in testing conditions so we're happy. Luke said he thought he was always happy enough in the ground. We'll talk to Frank (Berry, J.P. McManus' racing manager) but I suppose he'll go for something similar, and stay in novice company. He's a better chaser than a hurdler. He's a big horse and I'd say he grew into himself too.
Elliott completes double win impressive bumper winner
she's a good mare. We thought a lot of her coming here today but were a bit nervous with the ground going so heavy. I think she's a good mare. You have Aintree, Fairyhouse and Punchestown for her — not Cheltenham though. We'll talk to Noel (Moran, owner), he's away on holidays for a couple of days. It's great for Noel and Valerie as they are investing a lot of money into the yard so it's very important for them. I think she'll go on any ground although I wouldn't run her on firm.
