Enda Bolger
hopes drying ground at
Cheltenham
can help make it third time lucky for On The Fringe when he lines up in next week’s
Foxhunters
.
On the Fringe ran fourth to Zemsky in the 2011 renewal of the big amateur prize and last year finished third to Tammys Hill. He is currently generally a 6-1 second favourite for the Foxhunters behind the English hope Paint The Clouds.
“His form last spring on very good ground was especially good so if things do dry up at Cheltenham, he won’t mind it at all,” said Bolger.
The Limerick trainer famously won four of the first five renewals of the Glenfarclas Handicap Chase over the cross-country course and this time will be represented by Quantitativeeasing.
The 10-year-old has a weight pull with the English horse Any Currency on course form over December and Bolger said: “He might prefer more of a slog with the ground but he’s in good form.”
Hidden Cyclone found only Dynaste too good in last year’s Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham and his trainer ‘Shark’ Hanlon is leaning towards giving him a chance to go one better in next week’s race.
The 10-year-old star is also a leading contender for the Queen Mother Champion Chase but yet another Ryanair defection – this time another former winner in Cue Card – is making Hanlon lean towards the longer race.
“With Cue Card coming out, in my own mind I would be tending to lean that way now. It’s not definite. I’ll speak to the owners and know more but Cue Card coming out does open the Ryanair up that bit more,” the trainer said.
A Cheltenham success would be a maiden Grade 1 success for Hidden Cyclone as well as Hanlon.
Cue Card's defection resulted in Don Cossack, owned by Michael O'Leary, shortening further to 3-1 favourite.
