The Betway ambassador discusses his rides on the first day of the Dublin Racing Festival, headlined by Galopin Des Champs in the Irish Gold Cup.
This is a great two-day meeting and I just hope it passes the Saturday inspection or the races can be moved in a way that we don’t miss out, but fingers crossed. We’ll be seeing some great horses and hopefully some great racing.
I kick Saturday off in the 2m6f Novice Hurdle (13:15) on Doctor Steinberg 5/4 , who has stepped forward with every race. He went back to Galway after defeat there in a bumper and beat Frankie John in a maiden hurdle impressively, and then took another step forward and beat Thedeviluno in Navan on testing ground. So he seems versatile ground-wise and also stays really well. The Frankie John form ties in with Jalon d’Oudairies in this race. They were nip and tuck in Leopardstown at Christmas time, but on much better ground. Mine is a horse that’s just going the right way and improving with every run, and his form seems to be stacking up nicely. Hopefully he can get the weekend off to the best possible start.
In opposition, Kazansky seems to be very versatile trip-wise and won nicely in Limerick, so has now won his two completed starts over hurdles and was very unlucky in the one he didn’t complete (unseated after being hampered). So he’s obviously going the right way, too. He’s the choice of Jack Kennedy over Santo Sospir, who won in Clomel. Love Me Tender is another contender (and stablemate), but I think he might appreciate nicer ground. He also steps back up and trip here, and he’d have the class for sure.
Next up is a Juvenile Hurdle (13:50), and I ride Selma De Vary 8/1 . It’s going to be tough to land this race in her first run in Ireland, and in a Grade 1. She’s up against two potential stars in Narciso Has and Mange Tout. Mine does have the benefit of some good hurdle experience in France, and she was very impressive winning last time. She wears a hood as she has been quite keen, but since we got her she hasn’t been showing those tendencies as much. She seems to be growing up.
Again, we’re under no illusions as to how hard it will be to take on the other two as they seem to set the standard over here. It’s interesting that Narciso Has is 4lb worse off than when meeting Mage Tout in Fairyhouse earlier in the year, but he also seems to have taken a good step forward from that. You also can’t rule out Bertutea, who won nicely at Limerick on St. Stephen’s Day. Selma De Vary is the unknown quantity, I suppose, and she just looked very, very impressive when she won her last race, and that was on heavy at Auteuil, which can be very testing.
The Irish Arkle (14:55) is a three-runner race and at the very least is a quality match between Romeo Coolio and my ride, Kargese 7/4 . Look, it’s not going to be easy. We have to be realistic in taking on Romeo Coolio, who is so impressive. In fact, it seemed he was unfairly crabbed for his win at Christmas time, but he still won. The slower ground here won’t inconvenience either of them over this trip. Kargese obviously stepped up from her first run of the season to win at Leopardstown at Christmas, and she jumped really well in that race. We were left a little isolated in front after one of the key contenders James’s Gate fell, but he was the only one that was kind of coming with us. Interestingly, we beat Lovely Hurling by an almost identical distance as Kopek Des Bordes did, so I don’t think it’s a completely one-sided affair. I think she’ll give a good account of herself. Romeo Coolio is more experienced than us and he’s a Grade 1 winner around the course, though.
My last ride on Saturday is certainly one worth waiting for, as I partner Galopin Des Champs 7/4 in the Irish Gold Cup (15:30). For any racing fan looking in, this is an unbelievable race. It’s brilliant to be part of it and riding my old champion in it as well.
What a race, the depth of it is unbelievable, to the extent where you’ve even got the Brown Advisory winner from last year, Lecky Watson, almost unspoken about in the rest of the field. Stellar Story (who was second that day) is bang there too. I don’t think Affordale Fury is probably getting the credit he deserves for winning the Savills at Christmas, either, although I’d be hoping we can improve past him with the benefit of the run under our belts. He went a good, honest gallop, stayed on and has seen off ours and I Am Maximus, so he deserves a bit more respect than he’s getting. Fact To File didn’t really show his best in the King George. Gaelic Warrior had a harder race in the King George and he’s going to be a worthy contender. We should speak about the Gold Cup winner from last year – showing even more depth in the race – Inothewayurthinkin. He never got in the race in in the John Durkan or in the Savills, but it was obvious Gavin Cromwell’s horses weren’t flying at Christmas time and they’ve hit form now, so he has to come into consideration.
We should also mention the Sicily Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown (14:30) on Saturday (subject to another inspection), which features our Kitzbuhel in a small field. He won the Kauto Star race in Kempton at Christmas and it looks like they found another nice opportunity for him to add to that here. The testing ground shouldn’t be a worry for him back at this trip. He’s won on this kind of ground before and I’ll be definitely watching the replays.
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