The champion jockey and Betway ambassador previews his four rides on Tuesday at Punchestown, including Il Etait Temps in the Champion Chase.
There are plenty of busy periods as a jockey throughout the season, but there aren’t many weeks as busy as the Punchestown Festival. There are 40 races over five days, with 12 Grade 1s in there, and it’s just a fantastic week’s racing, so I’d urge anybody who hasn’t been to come and experience it if they get the chance. It does come at the end of a long, hard season, so you often see a few upsets and some surprise results, but it’s a great week to be involved in Irish racing, and I’ll look forward to enjoying that well-deserved break when it’s all done and dusted on Saturday evening.
I have four really good rides to kick us off with on Day 1, and we start with Murcia 5/1 in the Listed Handicap Hurdle (15:40). Getting off Karbau wasn’t easy because he’s a talented horse, and it might come back to bite me on the backside, but I’ve won a Grade 1 on Murcia and I think she’ll really enjoy the spring ground. Things haven’t quite gone her way so far this season, but I have a lot of faith in Murcia and if she gets a clear round, then I could see her running a big race.
Anna McGuinness claims 7lb off Karbau’s back, and that could actually be a big help to him because he does have to shoulder his fair share of weight. It wasn’t a straightforward decision, because as I say, he’s a horse with plenty of ability, but I’m just hoping I’ve made the right choice.
Another horse just to give quick mention to is Davy Crockett, because he looked like he had a huge future ahead of him in the summer but he’s just been a shade disappointing. He does need to get back on track, but off a mark of 126 on better ground, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if he was able to run a big race.
I’m then really looking forward to riding Sober 5/1 in the Champion Novice Hurdle (16:15), and I think the underfoot conditions are going to suit him down to the ground. He’s a class horse, and I think the cheekpieces and the smaller field are really going to help him, too. His best piece of form so far over hurdles came here in the Moscow Flyer, and he’s back down to that trip, so everything is in his favour. He will need to do everything right, which he isn’t guaranteed to do, but he’s the classiest horse in the race in my opinion, and I think he goes there with a big chance.
El Cairos has shown a lot of ability, but he did disappoint in the Supreme, and Skylight Hustle was far too keen before coming down in the Turners, so most of them have a few questions to answer going into this race.
It’s then Kitzbuhel 11/8 in the Champion Novice Chase (16:50), and I’m delighted to be back on board following his win at Cheltenham in the Brown Advisory. Even though he’s had a busy season, he probably comes here fresher than some of the others, with plenty of them showing up at Fairyhouse and Aintree. Other than when I fell off him at Sandown, Kitzbuhel’s had an unbelievable season, and going right-handed can only help him. His work at home since Cheltenham has been good and he sets the standard on what he’s achieved so far, so he’s probably the one they’ll all have to beat.
I thought Predator’s Gold was going to go on and win at Fairyhouse, so he’d have a big chance if showing up in similar form, but he does have to leave a heavy fall behind him only three weeks ago. There wouldn’t be much between him and Kappa Jy Pyke, and they are both capable of running big races, but Kitzbuhel has achieved more than any of them and goes there fresh so it was a pretty easy decision to ride him.
We finish on Tuesday with arguably one of the races of the week in the Champion Chase (18:05), and with Il Etais Temps 13/8, Marine Nationale, and Majborough taking each other on, it really is a mouthwatering clash.
Il Etais Temps has a lot of wins to his name, and he put up a huge performance to win the Queen Mother at the Cheltenham Festival. He’ll probably have to run to a similar level to win this because Marine Nationale is a huge performer at this level, and he comes here fresh having skipped Cheltenham. You go through Il Etais Temp’s recent form, though, and other than at Ascot in January, he’s been hugely consistent, so it’s hard to get away from him.
Majborough is a bit of an enigma because he has tonnes of ability, but I’m not sure whether he’ll be seen to best effect going right-handed, and I think he’d prefer a bit of cut in the ground. We all know how good he is on his day, though, so you certainly can’t rule him out.
This is right up there with any race you’ll see during the week, but I wouldn’t swap Il Etais Temps for anything, and it’s going to take a serious performance to stop him if he runs to the level he did at Cheltenham.
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