RACING: The Grand Annual winner Fadoudal Du Cochet can provide jockey Conor O'Dwyer with a measure of consolation for missing out on the big Cheltenham prize.
O'Dwyer would have put up 2lbs overweight if he had maintained his partnership with the horse at the festival and Arthur Moore decided that was too much.
Instead David Casey powered Fadoudal Du Cochet to a dynamic three parts of a length victory but O'Dwyer returns to the hot seat for the Dan Moore Handicap Chase.
No horse would be a more appropriate winner but Fadoudal Du Cochet will have his work cut out to concede 10lbs to Strong Run who comes from the in-form Meade yard.
The mare ran fourth to Blowing Wind in the Mildmay Of Flete and she may be more of a danger than the 1999 winner Space Trucker.
There should be a lot of interest in the bumper with The Galway Man scheduled to start and faced again by Whitworth Ben.
The latter ran a remarkable race at Leopardstown in February when going down by just 12 lengths to The Galway Man after having been practically pulled up half a mile out.
Whitworth Ben subsequently won over today's course and distance and given his tendency to hang right, this right handed track should be ideal.
The Galway Man missed out on the Cheltenham bumper because of the ground and his appreciation of the soft may not be facilitated fully today.
Thari can wrap up a memorable Easter festival for the Noel Meade camp in the Grade 3 Novice Hurdle.
Woodys Blue Lagoon also represents the Meath trainer but Thari, twelfth to Galileo in the SunAlliance, gets some useful weight and the decent ground should also suit.
Be My Belle, winner of four of her last six, has two stone in hand of the rated horses in the mares final and that sort of book superiority makes a pretty convincing argument.
