First Gold Confirmed For John Durkan Chase FRANCOIS DOUMEN has confirmed First Gold a runner in Sunday's John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase but admits the ground is going to be a lot more testing than ideal for the nine-year-old. This will be the gelding's first run since his disappointing fourth behind Florida Pearl in last year's King George VI Chase. Cashmans believe he is worth opposing, after installing him as a 2-1 shot and preferring as 7-4 favourite, Arthur Moore's Native Upmanship who won this two seasons ago. Doumen said: 'The decision to run First Gold in this race was a joint one between Mr McManus's team and ourselves. There was nothing really attractive in England for his comeback run and a handicap would mean giving away lots of weight. 'I felt that Punchestown was a very good idea and the plan is still to send him even though I would prefer the ground soft rather than heavy. I am concerned that he should not have too hard a task after such a long time off and so the less heavy it is the better. In any case I always prefer him to run on going from good to soft up to soft. 'He is ready to run and he will be in good shape for the race and, while the two-and-a- half-mile trip is his minimum, it will be far enough for his first run back in heavy ground.' Doumen added that this will be his first jumps runner in Ireland and the first Irish ride for his son Thierry. Doumen's only previous Irish runner was Double Bed, second to Park Express in the 1986 Phoenix Champion Stakes. The going at Punchestown is soft to heavy and director of racing Richie Galway expects it to remain much the same on Sunday. He said: 'We have had 5 mm of rain since Tuesday morning and the forecast is for dry settled weather but, with all the moisture in the ground, it may stay soft to heavy. It is going to be holding.'
