Simenon back at Cork with big chance Simenon bids for his second Cork win of the summer in the Joe Walsh Memorial Hurdle on Monday. A dual winner at Royal Ascot in 2012, the Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old has since been placed in three consecutive renewals of the Gold Cup. After finishing fourth last summer, he endured a disappointing end to his season, and was well beaten on his return to Berkshire in the Queen Alexandra Stakes. However, he appeared reinvigorated by a return to the jumping game at Cork on his latest outing and faces just three opponents in this three-mile encounter. Owner Nick Peacock said: "If he's as good as he was on his last run he'll probably win. "He looks to have one serious rival, Bright New Dawn, and he looked to have a pretty hard race in the Galway Plate the other day. "Simenon appears to be in very good form at the moment. He seems to be in better shape both physically and mentally than he was last year. "I think he probably got jarred up in the Ascot Gold Cup last summer and he never really ran a race after that. He just wasn't letting himself down. "We're happy with him at the moment, hopefully he can win again and then we'll see where we go. "Willie has mentioned possibly going novice chasing with him at some stage, or he could go back on the Flat." Gordon Elliott's Bright New Dawn finished eighth in the Galway Plate and is back in action just five days later. Course-and-distance winner Icantsay and High Nellie both have a mountain to climb judged on official ratings.
