Shamiran wins Punchestown opener

the last time at Cork a horse fell in front of him and he lost about six lengths. He loves the ground and he won a handicap hurdle here before. That's only his third run of the year but we'll give him a little break and he will be aimed at the Galway Festival.

Surplus rain no problem for Loch Ard!

Fever burning up in Bumpers

that was an extraordinary performance - he is a super horse. I don't know what we'll do next year; we were thinking of going straight over fences like we did with Florida Pearl but I'm not sure now. I thought he was out on his feet in the straight but Patrick said he was just idling. We know that the third (Mozoltov) is a good horse but Champagne Fever obviously stays well and is a good jumper. He is one that we are really looking forward to and has huge ability.

Willie's Genius comes to the fore

that was a bit of a surprise! We've had a few training problems with him and I haven't been able to train him too hard. I didn't know what to expect but he won a point to point on this sort of ground. He'll probably run in another bumper and might pitch up in the Rockview Bumper Final at The Curragh. He's another horse that we're looking forward to next season.