Quality entry of 24 for John Durkan

This year's running of the Grade 1 John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown on December 5th could be one of the finest renewals of the race in many years, with a total of 24 entries from Ireland and the UK bidding to land the €85,000 prize.

One very exciting entry in the two mile four furlong contest comes in the form of Captain Cee Bee, winner of the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase at the 2010 Punchestown Festival.

Captain Cee Bee’s trainer Eddie Harty said earlier today “The horse is in great form at the moment and fingers crossed we will run on December 5th at Punchestown. It will be the first time that we have gone beyond two miles with him. The John Durkan Chase is our focus at this moment in time”.

Irish and British champion trainers Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls will be represented by Cooldine, J’y Vole and The Nightingale.

Interestingly Cooldine has yet to win around Punchestown with his best performance so far coming in this year’s running of the Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup when he finished third behind Planet of Sound. J’y Vole has obliged over course and distance albeit not at this level.

The Paul Nicholls representative, The Nightingale, was very impressive when landing the Grade 2 Ladbrokes.com Chase in Downroyal earlier this month with a winning margin of 11 lengths over Roberto Goldback, who also looks set to line up on the 5th December

The 2009 winner Joncol holds an entry in the race and trainer Paul Nolan said “It’s fair to say that Joncol was disappointing on his first outing this season. Hopefully, all being well he will be back on track for the John Durkan Memorial Chase.”

Another past winner of the race, The Listener will be making the trip over in a bid to regain the honours he so impressively claimed in 2007. The eleven year old was then narrowly defeated the following year by the Paul Nicholls trained Noland, and subsequently had his last run and win in Ireland over 12 months ago in the JN Wine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal.

The Edward O’Grady trained Tranquil Sea will bid to follow up on his recent win in the Clonmel Oil Chase. Of the three O’Grady entries, he will be the sole representative as both Catch Me and Osana are unlikely runners.

Also among the entries is Glencove Marina trained by Eoin Griffin, who said: “We were happy with him after his win at Thurles. All going well he will run in the John Durkan Memorial Chase and, depending how he comes out of the race, we may look at extending the trip. He is untried at further but we could look at the Lexus or King George”.

The John Durkan Memorial Chase takes place on Sunday 5th December, with the first race going to post at 12.35pm. Admission is €18 which includes a €5 betting voucher. Senior Citizen's and Students pay €10. There will also be FREE Junior Jockey Club Children’s Entertainment available all day.

Barker – W.P. Mullins

Captain Cee Bee – E.P. Harty

Catch Me – E.J. O’Grady

Coolcashin – M.J. Bowe

Cooldine – W.P. Mullins

Follow The Plan – O. McKiernan

Glencove Marina – E. Griffin

Golden Silver – W.P. Mullins

Joncol – Paul Nolan

Made in Taipan – T. Mullins

Mansony – ALT Moore

Mossbank – M. Hourigan

Osana – E.J. O’Grady

Pandorama – Noel Meade

River Liane – T. Cooper

Roberto Goldback – Mrs. J. Harrington

Skippers Brig – NG Richards

Tchico Polos – P.F. Nicholls

The Listener – N.Mitchell

The Nightingale – P.F. Nicholls

Trafford Lad – L.J. Butler

Tranquil Sea – E.J. O’Grady

Vic Venturi – D.T. Hughes

J’y Vole – W.P. Mullins