Hennessy feels Donegal has improved Robbie Hennessy expects a much-improved performance from Donegal when he runs in the French Furze Novices' Hurdle at Newcastle on Saturday. Hennessy bought the four-year-old for 200,000 guineas last October but he failed to get off the mark in four starts over hurdles. However, the former Andrew Balding-trained gelding is certainly not without ability as he was beaten only a head by dual Breeders' Cup winner Conduit in the Gordon Stakes last year. "Donegal is a completely different horse this year. Whether he will be when he gets to the track we'll have to see, but he's doing things in his work that he wasn't last year and he seems to be enjoying it," said Hennessy. "He's really attacking his hurdles now whereas in his races last year, you could see he hated it. "He probably just needed a break. He came straight over to us from Andrew Balding and went straight back into training. "We threw him out in a field this summer and he seems to have thrived for it, so I'm expecting a big run from him on Saturday."
