Fitz ready for Thursday assignment Mick Winters is confident stable star Rebel Fitz is approaching peak form as he aims to secure his third win over fences at Galway on Thursday. The eight-year-old provided his trainer with a popular victory in the prestigious Galway Hurdle at this meeting 12 months ago and went on to follow up at Cork later in the month. However, having had his limitations over hurdles exposed by the brilliant Hurricane Fly at the Punchestown Festival in late April, Winters sensibly decided to switch his pride and joy to the larger obstacles. He suffered a shock defeat on his fencing bow at Killarney, but has since won easily at Ballinrobe and back at Killarney earlier this month. Winters expects his charge to be hard to beat in the Guinness Mid-Strength Novice Chase, having decided against a tilt at the far more competitive Galway Plate. Winters said: "I'm very happy with him and he seem in great order at home at the moment. He won easily in Killarney the last day, but Barry (Geraghty) thought he was a little bit flat. It was a bit warm and I don't think he was at his best. "I'm sure he's in better shape now and I don't think we'll have any excuses. You'd like to think if he runs up to his best, he'll be hard to beat. We did think about the Galway Plate, but I just thought for a horse of his experience, I'd rather stick to the novice route. "Even though you'd get a lot more prize-money, if it was a choice between finishing second in the Plate or winning the novice, I'd rather win the novice. "Hopefully all goes well, we'll have a good week and that's what it's all about. We'll see how it goes but I'd imagine we'll keep him on the go (after Galway). He definitely won't be running on that deep winter ground, so he can have a break then." Rebel Fitz is one of just six runners in the two-mile-one-furlong heat, with dual Newton Abbot winner Changing The Guard the sole British-trained challenger for Dr Richard Newland. Henry de Bromhead's Sizing Italy was a winner at Killarney last time while He's Our Man, Edmundo and Miranour complete the line-up.
