Their dam, Grangemills was a very useful and versatile type, winning a bumper, four on the level and she was placed in two hurdles, and her progeny are similar as evidenced by her sons Aggie's Lad (by Saddlers' Hall) and Cloone River (by Un Desperado) who face very different tests today.
Aggie's Lad is first into battle, in the Irish Times Amateur Riders' Handicap Chase at Cheltenham, over the extended three miles. This Tony Martin-trained former point-to-point winning six-year-old, is due to be partnered by Nina Carberry. Owned by the Pound Syndicate, a grouping who drink in the Pound Bar in Swords, Co. Dublin, Aggie's Lad is one of six Irish raiders in this eighteen strong field. Hordago, last year's winner and three times victorious at the venue, is back again for Eric McNamara and Katie Walsh.
Meanwhile, in the NEW Magazine Race at 8.40 in Dundalk, Cloone River goes on the all-weather, over a mile and a half. Now a twelve-year-old, this fellow is forecast to go off as one of the outsiders for the in-form Charlie Swan outfit. Whatever the outcome, the gelding has proved to be a tremendous servant for his owner, Mrs Kathleen Gillane, winning ten races, across all spheres. His finest hour of course came in the 2004 Guinness Galway Hurdle. (EM)
