Going - Hurdle/Bumper - Soft Chase - Soft to Heavy. Overcast and showery
Jackpot Pool - €983.33 Dividend - €688.30 Winning Units - .38. Placepot Pool - €27,670.97 Dividend - €35.90 Winning Units - 538.53. Days Aggregate - €140,407.70 Last Year €242,772.00
Brazil too hot for his rivals in Naas opener
We'll probably stay at home with him for soft ground. JP and Frank will have a chat and see where we go next. He's after running three nice races and it's great that he got the job done there today. He handled the ground and jumped well so we're delighted. Mark was happy with him, I'd say it wasn't the strongest of races.
Unbeaten Journey With Me on track for Cheltenham
We're happy with that. We just said we'd sit him in and see if he'd be happy enough to settle away as he's always making it. In a normal race he would have been but after half a mile Rachael had to go on. He was good, still a bit green in front, but I'm happy with him. Obviously further will suit him, I hope. Nothing is set in stone but I'd say, in my head, I'd be going for the Ballymore. That's two-five. We'll discuss it with connections, today was great and we'll enjoy that.
Sponsor McKiernan wins his own race
I'm delighted with that. Barry gave him a grand ride, he was very strong on him at the end and he needed it. He would have loved to have the two hurdles there, unfortunately they can't be there for safety reasons, as he's a lovely quick jumper at home. We did have a bit of a concern about the ground, I was here early this morning and there was a lot of rain fell. I just thought it might take the edge of him a bit coming up the straight. They went quick enough early on but he finished very strong. He'll stay further than two miles by the look of things. He had a few niggly problems since the last day but that was good. The rail helped him in the end, I thought for a while that Rachael was holding him. I'm delighted we won it anyway. On a little bit better ground he'd be even better and he'll probably be heading for Fairyhouse and Punchestown.
Goven survives last hurdle blunder to open Irish account
I'm very happy and he's been making nice improvement all season. Being by Poliglote, out of a Lavirco mare, he probably just loves that ground. He handles it really well but he's a real good mover at home and will handle nicer ground as we go through the season. We'd be looking forward to, probably, Fairyhouse at Easter although Easter is late this year so we'll get another run into him in the meantime. We might try and find a rated novice hurdle. I didn't get any indication from Mark that we'd want to go out in trip and I'm happy that he's able to do it at that trip. Mark actually thought he would like a bit of nicer ground, his pedigree suggests he wants that so we'll see. He's a lovely looking horse and I liked him. Hopefully he'll pay his way at home between here and the end of the season.
Sparkling proves a Star for new connections
That's a lovely surprise. I only have him three weeks and to be fair he came in really beautiful shape from Eoin McCarthy, who I have to give massive credit to. I just cantered him and we thought it was a good idea to get him started. He's a horse that we thought was quite unexposed on his profile, that's his first run in a handicap, but I didn't think it was going to happen that quick. I thought Shane was terrific on him, he sat and sat and on that ground it worked very well. For a horse of his size the idea was to see if we could grab something over hurdles and then go jumping a fence. We've got that and we'll probably let him run again in three weeks over a little bit further. The lads from the Impulsive Dancer syndicate went to re-invest and we found him as a fun horse so it's a big thanks to them for supporting us to get him.
Walsh completes treble as Elimay easily wins Opera Hat
We're delighted to win the Opera Hat Chase, named after a famous mare. I don't know whether Elimay can be as good as her but we'll try our best. She'll go for the Mrs Paddy Power Mares Chase now. Mark was happy that she carried him the whole way and she did everything that he asked her. She took a breather turning for home and when she heard the other mares coming up behind her she just picked up again. She got a bit close to the last and got a bit of a bang on her knee, but I think it just looked like a skin wound. We're not worried unless she's stiff or sore in the morning. I think she enjoyed being out there in front, I'd say that's the first time she has jumped from fence to fence from the beginning. On her last run she was backing off her fences a little bit. The first time cheekpieces could have been the reason for improvement today or maybe just making the running. She seemed to like it.
Trebles all round as Billaway easily wins hunter chase
He did that very efficiently, very well. I couldn't find fault in anything the horse did there, he galloped and jumped and did everything you'd want. It's a great prep for next month. He needed it badly the first day and I had to get a run into him. I was hoping it wouldn't backfire here today and it didn't, it brought him on enough. Everything went according to plan. The second horse ran very well too, he's running in a grade above what he should be running in. I wanted to get racecourse experience into him and that worked out. I'll probably keep him at home and try and win a maiden hunters chase with him. I'll be aiming him towards Fairyhouse or Punchestown.
Cooper excited by impressive bumper winner
He's very special and he has the pedigree to go with it as he's a half-brother to French Aseel who looked very good in Leopardstown before something went amiss with him. Bryan rode him in a school at Tipperary a couple of weeks back, two miles in soft ground, and he nearly went around a third time before he could pull him up. He's something special.
