Ash Tree Meadow set to carry topweight in Kerry National Galway Plate heroes Danny Gilligan and Ash Tree Meadow look set to be reunited in the €200,000 Guinness Kerry National at Listowel next Wednesday. The teenage rider received many plaudits for his cool ride from the front at Ballybrit and Gordon Elliott has confirmed the gelding will carry topweight in the Festival highlight next week. “Ash Tree Meadow was good in the Galway Plate and Danny will probably ride and claim off him again. I’d say Listowel will really suit him,” the Cullentra trainer told Dave Keena. “He doesn’t have to make the running — it’s just the way the race worked out in the Plate. It was a rough race down to the first and he ended up being in front which wasn’t the plan. “The loose horse was probably driving him mad the whole way but Danny was clever and got plenty of breathers into him.” Elliott has nine of the 27 entries in the Kerry National including Salvador Ziggy who is bidding for a four-timer over fences. Authorized Art, second in the Plate, represents champion trainer Willie Mullins who also has Ciel De Niege while Captain Cattistock is a possible raider from across the Irish Sea for Fergal O’Brien.
