RacingPuck Out may be the ante-post favourite for Thursday's Galway Hurdle, but his trainer, Christy Roche, was in a less than confident mood yesterday about the horse's chances.
The JP McManus-owned contender is as low as 7 to 1 favourite with Paddy Power, but Roche is afraid that the six-year-old may have too much weight in such a competitive race.
"If Puck Out has 9.10 or 10st in a big race, I would always fancy him. He's a small horse and the weight he carries is important. In my opinion he has little chance off something near 11st," he said.
Puck Out has been given 10.11 in the original handicap, but that might increase depending on what comes out at tomorrow's acceptance stage.
"I think those people who have made him favourite obviously don't know the horse," Roche added.
Puck Out was a well-beaten favourite in last year's Galway Hurdle, but he won the Martell Cordon Bleu Hurdle at Liverpool on Grand National day and also won a flat race at Roscommon in mid-May.
The Curragh trainer also has a difficult decision ahead of the acceptance stage for Wednesday's Galway Plate, which takes place this morning.
With a limit of 22 runners in the Plate, there will be plenty waiting to see what Roche decides as he currently has the two topweights, Risk Accessor (12st) and the 2001 winner Grimes (11.10),
"I'm edging towards not running Risk Accessor because I think he has too much weight. At this stage I can't see him running," he said.
It's a different story with Grimes, however, who Roche said yesterday may take his chance in both the Plate and the Hurdle 24 hours later.
Grimes is one of a strong McManus-owned string of horses in the Plate, which also includes the well-fancied novice Kickham as well as Wouldn't You Agree.
Flat racing predominates this evening, with only two hurdle races and a bumper at Cork to break the pattern.
Jamie Spencer has elected to ride at the southern fixture where his rides include Desert Tigress in the sprint fillies maiden.
This one appears to be getting better with racing and ran a fine third to her stable companion Silk And Scarlet in the Listed Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown last time.
Spencer also rides the O'Brien newcomer Queen in the mile-and-a-half maiden, but Diaconate ran a fine debut behind Misty Mountain and might be hard to beat in that, while Spencer has a rare ride for Dermot Weld on Madame Moonshine in the sprint handicap where the hat-trick seeking Mrs St George looks best.
As a result the jockey misses out on another date with Rio de Janeiro at Fairyhouse.
The Sadlers Wells colt stays at a mile and a quarter tonight and if staying straight should be too good for Freud Bacon and the newcomer Masrahi.
