Sweeney looking forward to Salsify mount Jockey Colman Sweeney believes leading hunter chaser Salsify could take his game to another level when encountering a sound surface for the first time this season at Stratford on Friday evening. Winner of the Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last year, the eight-year-old successfully defended his crown in a dramatic race in March, profiting from Oscar Delta unseating his rider on the run-in. However, there was no fluke about his annihilation of the same opponent at the Punchestown Festival in late April and he now returns to Stratford aiming for back-to-back victories in the W S Recycling Stratford Foxhunters Champion Hunters' Chase. Sweeney, amateur rider and son of trainer Rodger, said: "He did what I expected him to do at Punchestown, to be honest. I was happy with him going there and felt we had him back to his best after what happened at Cheltenham. "A couple of things probably went wrong at Cheltenham and I was maybe a bit too far out of my ground, but he proved he was back to his level best at Punchestown. "He's won at Leopardstown, Cheltenham and Punchestown on ground he didn't like, so I'm looking forward to getting him back on his favoured good ground at Stratford. "He enjoys going left-handed and the one doubt I had going to Stratford last year is that three and a half miles there might not be tough enough for him, but they went a good gallop and it turned into a nice test of stamina. "I'd expect a similar race this year." Sweeney is not expecting the three-and-a-half mile contest to be a walk in the park for the Salsify, with the majority of top hunter chasers from Britain and Ireland in attendance. Salsify's old rival Tammys Hill also makes the journey, as does the talented Mossey Joe. The chief challenger for the home team is Richard Barber's Chapoturgeon, who put his disappointing Cheltenham Festival effort behind him by winning at Newton Abbot last month. "Mossey Joe and Tammys Hill both come over from Ireland so it will be stiff opposition, but I'd be hoping my fellow will be able to put in a repeat performance," Sweeney told At The Races.
