RACING:THE TWO-MILE champion Sizing Europe is Henry De Bromhead's star performer but Loosen My Load can join his stable companion as a proven Grade One performer if successful in tomorrow's Powers Gold Cup.
A total of seven runners line up in the €90,000 highlight of the opening day of Fairyhouse’s Easter festival including the Cheltenham festival winner Noble Prince who looks set to start favourite under Tony McCoy.
The combination was an impressive winner of the Jewson Novices Chase at Cheltenham last month where they had Loosen My Load nine lengths behind them in third place.
The form of that race has been boosted since at Liverpool by the runner-up Wishful Thinking but it could be worth betting on a form reversal this time.
Understandably for a horse that hadn’t run since Christmas, Loosen My Load raced very keenly at Cheltenham and from looking like he was travelling best of all coming down the hill, he ultimately folded up the straight.
De Bromhead believes he will thrive on even better ground, which he gets this time, and if Andrew Lynch can get the horse to settle better then he could represent a touch of value in a race where Mikael d’Haguenet continues the quest to break his duck over fences and Realt Dubh continues on a rewarding but busy campaign.
Our Girl Salley was prevented from running at Cheltenham due to a setback and it is debatable whether she would have been able to cope with Quevega anyway in the David Nicholson.
However, Prunella Dobbs’ star is unbeaten in three over flights and could improve further for better ground when she lines up in the Grade two novice hurdle for mares.
The Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary is involved in another struggle with JP McManus for the owners championship and could strike a blow in the valuable novice handicap hurdle final with Bog Warrior.
Ruby Walsh was impressed with the seven-year-old when he won at Cork last month and this course bumper winner should be fine on the better going.
Cork’s Easter programme kicks off with a flat programme this afternoon where the English raider Inxile should be hard to beat in the Listed feature after his easy success at Naas last weekend.
Aidan O’Brien runs two in the opening juvenile race but they look set to be trumped by David Wachman’s Requinto who should be fitter for a debut third to Parish Hall at Leopardstown.
