A Pierse Hurdle-Leopardstown Chase double is a lot to ask of any jockey but if anyone can do it Norman Williamson can and Wild Arms looks a reasonable bet to present the rider with that chance.
Tomorrow's £100,000 Leopardstown feature has a highly dishonourable tradition of kicking gamblers into touch with just Graphic Equaliser and The Illiad balancing the odds in their favour in the last decade.
In it's Sweeps Hurdle and Ladbroke Hurdle guises, the race specialised in turning over popular favourites and this year has provided just such a market leader in the Charlie Swan ridden Grinkov.
One of four runners from the Pat Hughes yard, Grinkov comes here on the back of a highly encouraging run and is apparently ahead of the handicapper. Throw in also the fact of just one British trained opponent and the victory of his stable mate Mantles Prince last year, then his 6 to 1 favourite's position is hard to argue with.
And that's the kind of argument that has the bookies licking their lips. In a competitive 24 runner handicap that always seems to produce hard luck stories, the hard men of the ring will fancy their chances and understandably Hughes is not getting carried away in advance.
"The handicapper says Grinkov has 9lb in hand and I hope he is right. But that's only one man's opinion," he said and if Grinkov doesn't spark, Hughes's interest in the race will hardly end considering Theseus and Mumaris can also be fancied.
The competitive nature of the race can be gauged by bookies offering a quarter the odds each way on the first five and Cashmans offer a refund to any win bets on the second horse home. Successful bookmakers aren't successful because they're generous so surely punters should be looking for a double digit alternative to the favourite.
The six times former winner Arthur Moore provides The Gatherer and two others while the JP McManus colours will also be carried by Spokesman who will be a danger to all if getting the run of the race. Dermot Weld provides two including the Tony McCoy ridden Moving On Up but it's Wild Arms, third to Moving On Up last time, who is suggested as a winner.
Williamson is on this one instead of the other Edward O'Grady runner Kapok and a Paddy Power spokesman yesterday reported Wild Arms as "the best backed horse all week." Wild Arms is, however, generally available at 14 to 1 elsewhere and comes here off a good run.
Better ground will be to his advantage considering he looked all over the winner of that Moving On Up race when ranging up on the turn in and Williamson knows how to win this race on smart ex-flat horses having scored on Master Tribe in 1997.
That was the year Williamson also landed the big chase on Time For A Run and he won it again in 1999 on Hollybank Buck. The coincidence backers will see it's his turn and more importantly he has apparently secured a favourite's chance on the Paddy Power chase runner up Coq Hardi Diamond.
Williamson has switched to Coq Hardi Diamond from his Paddy Power mount Shannon Gale and there is another significant jockey switch in the Fitzpatrick Hotel Novice Chase. Conor O'Dwyer won with Over The Furze last time but now is on Ross Moff who will be hard to beat.
Bust Out can boost Ned Kelly's form with a defeat of Noble Promise in the opener and Any News, a son of Karinga Bay, is the selection in what could be a hot newcomers bumper.
