In his exclusive column, the Irish jump jockey and Betway ambassador explains his difficult choice of ride in the Red Mills Chase on Saturday
Gowran Park
I’m at Gowran Park tomorrow where I had a really tough job choosing between Smashing and Morning Assembly in the Red Mills Chase (2.15pm).
In the end I just opted for Smashing but I can promise you there will be very little between the pair.
Smashing won well at Thurles last month, despite pecking on landing at the second last and I’d be hopeful of a bold showing.
I suppose the fact that he has won over the trip, on the ground and at this track probably just tilted me towards him.
Morning Assembly ran a hell of a race on his reappearance at Fairyhouse and will be a tough nut to crack.
Sizing Tennessee looks to have a decent chance in the Red Mills Trial Hurdle (3.25pm) although Willie’s [Mullins] Sempre Medici will be hard to beat even with his penalty.
He was second in a Grade 2 at Cheltenham two starts back and won the Grade 3 Limestone Lad Hurdle at Naas last month on his most recent start.
I suppose the fact that he has to give us 6lb on heavy ground will draw us that little bit closer to him, but it will still be a massive task.
I ride Our Rachael for Tony Martin in the maiden hurdle (4.00pm) and she hasn’t shown too much in her two starts over timber so far.
She was okay on the flat and if she can translate some of that ability to the jumping game she may be able to get competitive but I’m hopeful rather than confident.
O Ceallaigh did win a maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse last year so is probably still paying the price of that victory as he has found things tough in handicap hurdles.
That said, the handicapper is slowly but surely loosening his grip and I’m hopeful of a better run from a revised mark of 121 (4.35pm). He’ll have no issue with the ground too which is another plus.
First Lieutenant
I was very disappointed with First Lieutenant in last weekend’s Irish Gold Cup as he jumped well and travelled sweetly throughout before ‘hitting the wall’ two out.
It’s really hard to explain as everything had gone so well to that point from a rider’s perspective.
Anyway, I pulled him up pretty sharp so hopefully the experience won’t have done him any harm as he begins his build up towards another tilt at the Grand National.
Road To Riches and Valseur Lido
The worrying thing from an Irish perspective when looking ahead to the Cheltenham Gold Cup has to be that a horse like Carlingford Lough could come from that far off the pace to land the spoils.
I’m pretty sure he’d have won anyway, despite Valseur Lido’s spill at the last, but that’s the million-dollar question we’ll never know the answer to.
Whether he heads to the Gold Cup now or even the Ryanair is the subject of much debate. I’d like to throw in the possibility of him missing Cheltenham altogether and being kept fresh for the Aintree Bowl.
As for Road To Riches, I think he looks sure to be aimed at the Ryanair Chase now. The trip looks perfect for him as he showed when winning the Clonmel Oil Chase earlier in the season.
Tombstone
It may just be that Tombstone was beaten by a very good horse in the shape of Bleu Et Rouge in the Deloitte Hurdle last weekend.
Hindsight is a great thing, but when you look back at the race at Christmas when he finished behind Long Dog, he was just as unlucky as Tombstone in-running.
All that said, I haven’t lost faith in Tombstone and the better ground and fast pace of a Supreme Novices’ looks ideal. He’s only got some horse called Min to beat!
Zabana
Finally, the ground didn’t help Zabana last weekend but I was still a little bit disappointed.
The positives are that he will have learnt a lot from the experience and the better ground at Cheltenham will help.
As for his target, if the ground is slower than good, the JLT looks the right option.
READ: Richard Johnson: I wouldn’t swap Sternrubin for anything else
