CHELTENHAM, traditionally, might be the coronation-place for jump racing’s champions but Hurricane Fly is on course to prove himself this season’s top novice hurdler at Punchestown this afternoon.
It is four months since Hurricane Fly was last seen in public, winning his second successive Grade One in devastating style by 10 lengths at Leopardstown, and putting himself firmly in the “Cheltenham banker” class for many.
A splint problem at just the wrong time robbed him of the chance of justifying those hopes but the impression he left over Christmas remains strong enough to have him challenging his seniors for favouritism in ante-post betting for next year’s Champion Hurdle.
A lot of that is due to the fact that the horse left trailing behind him at Leopardstown, Go Native, proceeded to go on and win the Supreme at Cheltenham. Noel Meade’s horse is blessed with speed as well as a fine jumping technique and is taking on Hurricane Fly again in today’s Evening Herald Novice Hurdle. But even Meade is a fully paid up member of the Hurricane Fly fan-club. “If Hurricane Fly is as good as he was at Leopardstown he will be very hard to beat,” he said yesterday. “The couple of times I’ve seen him he has looked exceptional.”
El Dancer looks the best of the two British runners and put in a remarkable performance to win at Aintree after running too free in the early stages. But despite a four-month gap, Hurricane Fly can still maintain his ratings dominance of the novice ranks.
The Mullins-Walsh team bring the Cheltenham hero Cooldine back to Punchestown for the Boylesports Champion Novice Chase and with ground conditions officially “soft” he should be very hard to beat.
There was certainly enough in his 12-length defeat of Horner Woods in the RSA Chase to make him a general 8 to 1 shot to disrupt Kauto Star and Denman’s dominance of the Cheltenham Gold Cup next year. If that’s correct, then the horse that ran fourth in last year’s Ladbrokes Hurdle here should be capable of justifying his official 163 rating in some style.
Normally at this stage of the season a horse with the progressive profile and light campaign that Joncol boasts would be an attractive alternative. Twice a winner at Naas, and once around here, Joncol has the frame to continue improving significantly. However, Cooldine looks to be the logical solution. Mullins reported yesterday: “He pulled a muscle after Cheltenham but recovered quite quickly. I would say the ground will be very safe.”
Paul Carberry is on something of a retrieval mission aboard Jewel Of The West in the two-mile handicap hurdle and a clear passage should see the partnership figure prominently. Carberry looked to give the Noel Meade-trained horse quite a bit to do at Fairyhouse when only just failing to overhaul Sarteano. Jewel Of The West may ideally prefer quicker ground but still looks worth another chance.
The festival opens with the Fr Seán Breen Memorial Chase where the Ted Walsh-trained Wedger Pardy tries to win the race for the second year running. However the formbook tells us he has almost 50 lengths to make up on Freneys Well from running behind Rudi Trucker at Fairyhouse.
John Kiely has had a successful season with his bumper string and Frawley could be an interesting contender in the last with Derek O’Connor, who rode his five hundredth point to point winner at the weekend, in the saddle.
