The Irish champion jockey and Betway ambassador previews his four rides at Punchestown on Sunday, which also include Kiss Will and Dani Donadoni.
A busy few days concludes with another four rides at Punchestown on Sunday, but it’s a track where we’ve had a fair bit of success, so hopefully that will continue this weekend!
We kick off with KISS WILL / in the beginners’ chase (14:00). Although he wasn’t good enough to beat Koktail Divin last time at Leopardstown, I’m hoping he can confirm the form with the reopposing Shuffle The Deck, who was four lengths behind us in third. It looks a deep race, and I’d say Soldier In Milan is one to keep an eye on after his good fourth last time on just his second start over fences. Even though there are only seven runners, a good few will fancy their chances. I don’t think the extra stamina test will inconvenience my lad at all, and I’d be extremely hopeful there’s more to come from him over fences, so hopefully we can start the afternoon off with a win.
There’s a valuable pot for the Grand National Trial (14:30), in which I ride UNCLE PAT 11/1 , and although he’s unproven over this sort of trip on testing ground, his run at Roscommon over a similar distance in the summer gives you cause for optimism. I actually think it could unlock a bit of improvement in him, and he seemed to handle the ground well enough for Sean Cleary-Farrell at Christmas. With the prize money on offer, it looks well worth having a go, and here’s hoping he can bank a bit of it for his owners on Sunday.
Next, we have DANI DONADONI / in the maiden hurdle (15:32), and he needs to bounce back, as I’d say he disappointed me a fair bit the last day at Leopardstown when I was expecting much better. The form of his second in a maiden at Cork has been let down by Lord Rouge at Naas since, but I don’t think there’s any doubt that Dani Donadoni is better than what he showed over Christmas, so we’ll be looking for him to get back on track here.
My final ride of the weekend is GORVITHO / , who makes his handicap debut in the novice handicap (16:02), and he’s a difficult one to weigh up, in truth. He’s been plagued by injuries, and this will be the first time we’ve managed to get back‑to‑back runs into him, so he’s certainly entitled to improve on what he’s shown so far. He got very tired late on at Clonmel last time, so he should step forward for that run, and I think this longer trip could be the making of him as he is a bit of a galloper. That said, a mark of 115 might just be on the stiff side based on what he’s shown so far.
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