Wednesday, January 22, 2025
SHARPE OPERATOR
Michael Sharpe and Asphalt Cowboy (left) put in asmart performance to hold off Barton Sky at Turtulla Reports, pages 4-5
DEREK O’CONNOR
‘I was hopeful some new names come to the fore so it was good breakthroughwinsfor two teen at the weekend’ Page 2
s to age
SUNDAY’S £50,000 CHASE AT WINDSOR...
“Matata threw his hat into the ring for Queen Mother Champion Chase honours after running riot over his rivals.” Sportinglife.com
VADAMOS
NFO
OCUS JOHN ALLEN
‘We werealways getting nearawinner but never close enough, so we thought changing our name might bring us better luck’
One of the 13 owners of Con’s Roc explains the joys of being in asyndicate Page 3
FRIDAY’S MARES BUMPER AT CORK...
“Ufouria ran away with this”
DerekO’Connor Straight to thePoint
It’s good to seenew riders coming throughtogaintheir firstvictories
IWAShighlyimpressedbythe Terence O’Brien-trainedCon’s Rocwhen he wonthe maiden hunter chaseatLimerickafter Christmas
Iwasn’t the onlyperson who thoughtitwas an above-average race of its type.I’m moreconfidentabout that opinion after seeingthe Limerickrunner-up,Willitgoahead, winlastSunday’shunter chaseat Thurles in greatstyle
Jamie Scallan sent Sean Doyle’s geldingtothe frontafter three out and never hadtoget seriouswith him.Hehackedup, and Iwasn’t surprised to hear that Sean was thinkingofa trip to Cheltenham,or possibly Aintree, for theseven-yearold Getawaygelding, dependingon the ground.
Sunday’sgood goingseemedto suit himand theground wasdecent when he ranout an easy winner from Lifetime Ambition at Tinahely in November
Therunner-up wasahigh-class horseinhis prime and he still has plenty of ability. At the end of last season he wassecond to ItsOnThe Line in the Champion Hunter Chase at the Punchestown festival.
Sean hasbeenpatientwith Willitgoahead. This is his third season in points and he wononly once in alight campaign lastwinter He hasmatured in thelastfew months and wonthree in arow in points before losingout to Con’sRoc at Limerick
If he continues to make progress there’s astrongpossibility he will clash at some stagethis season with his former stablemateBig Interest. This Soldier Of Fortune geldingwon amaiden at Castlelands last season and gotoff to aperfect startfor his new owner RayNicholas andtrainer David Christie when beatingIts On TheLineinthe hunter chaseat Down RoyalatChristmas It’s good to see fresh talentcoming on the hunter chasescene and Milan Forthisanother promisingrecent addition. TheMilan gelding, who wasnever outofthe firsttwo in six starts for Simon Cavanagh in the autumn campaign,has been transferredtoPaulFlynn to runon the trackand wasadecisivewinner of lastWednesday’s hunter chaseat Clonmel.
This wasa firstwinner over jumps
on the trackfor Kevin Healy, who has beenhis regular rider in points, givinghim threewins
He’s aversatile young horseman.A grandson of MilanForth’s owner,Pat Whyte, he hadalot of successin junior eventingand showjumping and pickedupexperience in pony racingtoo
‘Kevin
Healy is aversatile young horseman
whohad
a lotofsuccess in junior eventing and showjumping and picked up experience in pony racing
He made headlines when riding Wrecking Ball Paul to winanamateur handicap on the all-weather at Dundalk lastMarch.Hewentstraight to the front, buildingupamassive lead he neverlookedlikelosing. As someone involved with coachingyoung riders,Ifind it’s often agood basis when theyhavea background in differentdisciplines Thereare alot of transferable skills, and versatility is agreat quality. At the same time,Ialso believe there’sno substitute for raceridingexperience
At the end of the autumn campaign I washopeful the second half of the season would bring some new names to the foreinpoints,soit wasgood to hear of breakthrough wins for two teenageriders at the weekend.
too’
Shane Walsh Kehoegot off the mark on the Denis Murphy-trained Fralimonti BilberyatBallycrystal, and Jack Collins did likewiseonCeis Charraigin for GarrettAhern in a
novice riders’event at Carrigarostig. Therewas awelcome firstwinner of the season for lastseason’s champion under-21 rider,Shane Cotter,who returnedtoaction recently after missingthe autumn season due to injury. He rode Denis Murphy’sJukebox King to winthe five-year-old geldings’maiden at Ballycrystal, thankfully avoidingan incident beforethree outwhen the strong-travellingSioux Falls clipped heels and slippedup, takingthree other runnersout of the race.Rob James,who wasonSioux Falls, endedthe dayona much happier note,takingthe final three races on the card
CharlieMullinsisatalentedyoung amateur rider who partnered ItsOn TheLine to three hunter chasewins early in hiscareerand alsorode Annamix to winthe Joseph O’Reilly CupatFairyhousetwo seasons ago. He’s ridden in only three point-topoints butmaybe he’ll be tempted to takepartmoreregularly after riding the 2021 Munster National winner Ontheropes to winthe open at Carrigarostig for his father Tom, in the coloursofhis mother Helen.
Terence O’Brien, trainer of Con’s Roc, hadwinners on the tracklast weekatClonmel and Cork. JayPee M, aValirann geldingwho landeda beginners’chase at Cork, would have wonamaidenatBoulta in December butfor comingdownatthe last.
On Sunday, Gillets Hill kept up the good work for the Carrigtwohill yard with an excellentfront-running performance to winafive-year-old geldings’maiden at Carrigarostig. He jumped well and scored by eight lengths from NeverSurrender,whose trainer Mick Goff wonthe mares’ maiden on the same card with Fedneys Park
Finally, backtolastweek, when I asked howmuchlongercould Winged Leader keep up his winning sequence.Unfortunately, the answer came at Turtullaonly afew days later whenhewas defeatedbythe John Queally-trained, Jody Townendridden PatCoyne
That broughtanend to a15-race winningrun that beganat FarmacaffleylastFebruary. It hadto happen sooner or later, butI’m sure thereare many other winningdaysto be hadwith David Christie’s star.
PATRICK McCANN (RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS)
Willitgoahead putsinabig leap forJamie Scallan to reward the patience of trainerSean Doylewithvictory in thehunter chase at Thurles
John Allen
espouses the joy of owning a horse with friends
OUR syndicate has been going a very long time; it’s 27 years now with more or less the same bunch of lads.
We started out in 1987 with the 21st Racing Club and changed our name to the Undecided Syndicate in 1998, before we became the Near Or Never Syndicate.
We were always getting near a winner but never close enough, unfortunately. We had thought that changing our name might bring us better luck as we haven’t had much luck with horses, but we’ve had plenty of craic over the years
There are 13 of us involved in the syndicate, aged between 30 and 70, from all different backgrounds and from three different counties There’s a right mixture of lads but we all get on well; we’re all good friends
I’m a farrier and have been around thoroughbreds and half-breds all my life I hunted a small bit in my younger years
My nephew Darragh Allen rides as an amateur and his brother Sean trains They have four uncles involved with the syndicate. I’m a committee member of the Kilworth and Araglen Hunt and I’m the
NEWS AND VIEWS
‘A syndicate is a fabulous way to own a racehorse at a more affordable cost’
farrier on duty for their race days Our next race meeting at Knockanohill is scheduled for Sunday, March 16.
We have one horse in training, Con’s Rock, who won the hunter chase at Limerick on December 29. That was an amazing day, it was the syndicate’s first ever park winner The day started off terribly as we forgot the colours, then there was a false start for his race, but thankfully he won.
It was a great training performance from Terence O’Brien too, as the horse hadn’t run since winning at Ballyknock in March, a break of 277 days He had the horse spot on.
We were thrilled, and having Darragh aboard for the win was just the icing on the cake Con’s Roc is a huge horse, standing at 17.2hh He’s had a few niggly problems and needs a bit of time between his races, but he has ability. We just need a lot of patience with him He was second on his debut at Ballindenisk in December 2022 to a nice horse, The
Doyen Chief, who is now trained by Alan King, and he has won three times since Con’s Roc never ran as a sixyear-old but won next time out at Knockanard in February 2024 and then at Ballyknock a month later. His Knockanard win was the first winner for the syndicate since 2006.
Terence had entered Con’s Rock in a hunter chase at
Tipperary in May, but the ground was too firm; he needs a cut in the ground. He was also entered for Fairyhouse in November, but again the ground was against him so we held off running until the Limerick hunter chase over the Christmas period Con’s Roc had gone through the ring at the Goffs Land Rover Stores Sale in August
2020 and was not sold. Conor O’Donovan brought him home and broke him in, but sadly, Conor passed away in 2021, and his wife was selling the horse.
It was the amateur rider Eoin O’Brien who came to us and said he knew where there was a nice horse for sale There were a few interested parties in the horse, but thankfully Mrs
O’Donovan sold him to us
After getting her blessing, we named the horse Con in honour of his late owner, and Roc came from his sire Shirocco We sent the horse to Terence in July 2021.
TERENCE is marvellous. He’s very open and approachable and knows his horses inside out.
He sends us regular updates and videos of the horse and we are welcome to visit the yard anytime. Terence has trained all our syndicate horses I highly recommend syndicates and being involved in one is great. It’s a fabulous way to own a racehorse at a more affordable cost.
The social aspect of the syndicate is also marvellous Some of the syndicate members don’t come from horse backgrounds but we thoroughly enjoy the social gatherings
We meet every six weeks to catch up and discuss plans for the horse I also communicate everything between the syndicate and our trainer Con’s Roc will most likely run in a hunter chase at Naas next month We’ll take direction from Terence but it would be nice to qualify for Cheltenham, to run in the hunters’ chase at the festival would be a dream come true for us
JOHN ALLEN WAS TALKING TO DEBBIE McCRELLIS
Gatineau Park adds to Doyle’s maiden bragging rights
CONFINED races have lost much of the popularity they once had as a link between the sport of point-to-pointing and the local hunt.
Sunday’s Ballycrystal card hosted a rare confined maiden in the county of Wexford but, given the course’s location and proximity to so many of the powerhouse point-to-point stables, it is, unsurprisingly, one of the toughest to win.
Only horses with a Ballinagore Harriers hunter certificate are eligible to run in the race but that still leaves a sizeable pool of potential runners.
The Ballinagore Harriers is one of the hunts responsible for issuing the largest number of hunter certificates each seas on, with Donnchadh Doyle, Denis Murphy, Ellen
Do yle an d Ma tt y Fl ynn O’Connor all running their horses under Ballinagore certs
Whe n it comes to this confi ne d ma ide n it is Donnchadh Doyle who can claim bragging rights, with the victory of Gatineau Park in Sunday’s running being his third successive win in the race
Given Doyle’s commercial approach, the five-year-old Gatineau Park will be offered
after racing at Saturday’s Tattersalls Cheltenham sale and recent history has shown how this race produces winners above the standard typical of an average hunt maiden Doyle’s previous winners, Patriotik and Great Pepper, are now 121-rated hurdle winners, with the former having been a leading contender for the
valuable Betfair Stayers’ Hurdle at Haydock in November, a race in which he unseated his rider
Trainers dismayed by modest cash boost Horse Racing Ireland has committed to increasing prizemoney for less commercialised point-to-point races by €100 as part of its 2025 budget
Races exclusively for horses aged four and five will remain at their existing value of €800, but all other races will have their value increased from €1,750 to €1,850. That modest increase – the first in six years – disappointed trainers. Their governing body, the Point-to-Point Handlers Association, had lobbied to
increase the value of races for older horses to €2,000 this year Amid that disappointment, one point-to-point committee has taken it on to reward owners of older horses with a €1,500 bonus to be awarded at next month’s Ballyvodock fixture.
The organising Pigeon Hill and Carrigtwohill committee will offer the bonus to the
winning owner of the sixyear-old-and-upwards maiden at their fixture on February 2.
Jonbon the highlight of ex-pointers’ exploits
A ninth Grade 1 victory for Jonbon was the highlight of a particularly fruitful week under rules for ex-point-to-pointers. Ellmarie Holden’s former charge has developed into the leading two-mile chaser on either side of the Irish Sea since starting his career winning a fo ur-y ear-old ma iden at Dromahane on his first start for her Kilkenny stable
His six-and-a-half-length victory in Ascot’s Clarence House Chase was the 11th Grade 1 success this season for horses who had started their careers in the point-to-point nursery and that was supplemented by a quartet of Grade 2 wins over the weekend.
Dedicated Hero (ex-Tom Keating), Take No Chances (ex-Denis Murphy), Appreciate It (ex-Pat Doyle) and Jingko Blue (ex-Rob James) won Grade 2 prizes at different venues as they signed off a week in which ex-pointers won a total of 42 races under rules in Britain and Ireland.
Eoghain Ward
Rob James and Donnchadh Doyle each take their tally at Ballycrystal to three on Sunday with the success of Gatineau Park in the confined maiden
John Allen (left, with glasses) celebrates with fellow syndicate members after Con’s Roc’s Limerick victory
HEALY RACING
CLONMEL AT TURTULLA SATURDAY
Townend’s rare visit ends Winged Leader’s streak
JODY TOWNEND, champion lady amateur rider under rules for the last four seasons, made a rare appearance in the pointing fields at a Turtulla fixture which took place six days later than scheduled due to the recent cold snap Te amin g up wi th Jo hn Queally’s Pat Coyne, it proved to be a worthwhile trip for the younger sister of jockey Paul Townend, as the pair claimed the notable scalp of Winged Leader in the Shanaville Stables and Nicholastown Stud ladies open.
The reigning champion point-to-pointer arrived at the Ti pp er ar y ve nu e ha vin g extended his winning run to 15 victories just seven days earlier at Tinahely, but he was unable to add to his tally, coming up two lengths short against Pat Coyne
That marked a reverse of the form from Ballycrystal last month when David Christie’s charge had beaten Pat Coyne by eight lengths
Star performance
Khafre faced a simple task compared with his Lingstown debut and took full advantage
“When I saw Winged Leader declared I thought we’d better go home,” Queally said. “Pat Coyne isn’t a bad horse on his day and he pinged his fences today. We’ll keep him at this game for a while The ground was a help to him too; he likes nice ground.”
Amoros o re co rd ed the biggest winning margin on the card when she crossed the line 45 lengths clear of the only other finisher in the Meadowview Stables and Andy Slattery ma re s’ ma iden, a ra ce sp ons or ed by her lo ca l Killenaule-based handler.
The five-year-old was having her first start for Slattery after finishing third on her final outing for Eoin Doyle at Knockmullen House in November, but she was lucky to win by
such a yawning margin, with the Tattersalls fourth Rainbow Connection departing at the last when challenging.
There was further local success when Pa King guided the John Nicholson-owned and -bred Mickey Hulie to victory for Harry Kelly in the Hotel Minella and Harney’s Final Furlong adjacent maiden.
The Pour Moi gelding had struggled on his debut when beaten 58 lengths at Tattersalls before Christmas, but the drop in grade proved sufficient to all ow him to ma ste r th e challenge of the more experienced Witheros Hill by four and a half lengths
“He’s named after Michael Hoolahan, who works with me, but we always call him Mickey Hulie,” Nicholson said.
“I love this horse We took him to the Land Rover Sale and couldn’t get a bid for him I had the dam and she was the first Mahler mare to get black type.”
Asphalt Cowboy gave Caragh native Michael Sharpe his first
BALLINAGORE AT BALLYCRYSTAL SUNDAY
winner at Durrow last March, and the pair doubled their respective tallies when landing the Dalton Transport and Susan Archdeacon Town & Country Interiors winner-of-one.
The pair were all out to repel
the persistent challenge of the Inchydoney winner Barton Sky by three-quarters of a length
“Michael is something else; he’s magic,” Carey said. “I wish I had more horses for him to ride He’s the only one who
seems to be able to get a tune out of this horse.”
Barton Sky’s handler, Willie Murphy, had swift compensation when he sent out the first and third in the next race, the INHSC older geldings’ maiden.
Doyle dominates on home turf with
DO NNCHADH DO YL E dominated on home turf as Madam Blue opened a treble for his Monbeg stable when she survived a serious blunder at the final fence to win the five-year-old mares’ maiden, a ra ce sp o ns or ed by the handler’s older brother Sean.
Despite the yard’s number one rider, Rob James, electing to partner the previous week’s Ballindenisk runner-up Liberte Des Obeaux, it was the Blue Bresil mare under Alan Harney who fared best from a quick turnaround after also being in action the previous weekend at Tinahely. Here she returned six and a half lengths clear of the eyecatching Nana Noodleman.
“She had a few good runs, but Brian Lawless got down off her last week and said she missed a few fences,” Doyle said. “He thought she was going to run a bigger race but she got into a lovely rhythm today and Alan gave her a lovely ride.”
Star performance
Debutant Jukebox King picked up strongly once striking the front on the run-in and quickened clear to win going away
The £30,000 purchase will be joined on the boat to the Ta tt er sa lls Che lte n ha m January sale by stablemate Mouthshuteyesopen, who proved a class above her rivals in the older mares’ maiden. Bought for €50,000 at the 2022 Derby sale, it has taken connections two and a half years to get the Pillar Coral mare to the track. Their patience looks to have been richly rewarded as Rob James hardly had to take her out of second gear to account for Coppola by five and a half lengths
Ja mes als o par tner ed Gatineau Park as the five-yearold continued his handler’s
strong record in The Paddocks confined maiden.
Out of a half-sister to the prolific Frodon, who won three Grade 1s in a 19-win career for Paul Nicholls, the €80,000 purchase was placed in a fouryear-old autumn maiden.
Dropping into much calmer waters, he sealed a comfortable ten -l en gt h vict or y when jumping to the front with a swift leap at the third-last.
“It’s been a good day,” Doyle said. “He had a good run the last day. He was a bit unlucky and I would say he didn’t just stay that well on the bigger tracks, but Rob was very happy with him today. He jumped and travelled everywhere.”
The reigning champion rider also won on The Burrow when stepping in for the injured Brian Lawless in the Ballyboy Stables Denis Murphy older geldings’ maiden.
On a ho rs e tr aine d by
Lawless’s father Gerard, the pair breezed into the lead
Under-21 champion Shane Cotter achieves his first win of the season on Jukebox King after returning from injury
Th e Ca rlo w ha ndle r’s Revolut Ned has long been knocking on the door, having finished placed in his last three outings, but the close relation of Relkeel Hurdle runner-up Go we l Ro ad des er ve dly
Khafre lands the five-year-old geldings’ maiden under Barry O’Neill to become the only Wexford winner on the
KILLEAGH AT CARRIGAROSTIG SUNDAY
‘He jumped like a buck’ –Gillets Hill off to the sales
re turne d to the winner ’s enclosure after Pa King guided him to a two-and-a-half-length victory over Shane Roche’s Wexford raider Long Road.
“We were due that,” Murphy said. “He’s run his race every day. He had a great run at Loughrea behind Minella Sixo and it’s taken him a while to come back to that.
“He jumped better than normal today and got a lovely ride We’ll probably try to find a winners’ race for him now.”
Kh afre wa s the only Wexford-trained winner on the card, when Colin Bowe’s €34,000 Derby sale purchase landed the David Harry Kelly five-year-old geldings’ maiden.
No match for the impressive Kindly Prince at Lingstown in November, Barry O’Neill’s mount went one place better by beating the newcomer Kaiser De Chanay by a length and a half, becoming the first offspring of the Italian Derby winner Cima De Triomphe to win in the Irish pointing fields.
fine treble
along the back straight and they returned unchallenged to account for Jasmin Des Blins by ten lengths
James’s hat-trick meant he opened up a lead of three in the race for the riders’ title, 20-17, over Barry O’Neill, with whom he shared the title last season.
“We always thought he was a fair horse but he’s a big one who has just needed a bit of time,” Lawless said.
“Brian has done a great job with this horse but unfortunately he broke his leg during the week, so Rob stood in for him and played a blinder.”
Denis Murphy’s Ballysteen maiden winner Fralimonti Bilbery took advantage of a final-fence blunder from odds-on favourite Bob The Builder to give 19-year-old rider Shane Kehoe his first success in the saddle in the Baltimore Stables James and Ellen Doyle winners-of-two.
“The first time that Shane sat on a horse was in Denis’s He
started walking around the yard and went from there,” said Bernice Murphy, daughter of the winning handler
“It’s a fair turnaround for a chap in the space of a couple of years. It’s great to be able to give him a winner because he is an important part of the team.”
That completed a double on the card for the Ballyboy team as their Jukebox King made a winning debut in a dramatic
Ta tt er sa lls Che lte n ha m January Sale, MSK Silversands Ltd and Screws & More Ltd five-year-old geldings’ maiden.
Joint-favourite Sioux Falls clipped heels and went down on the flat leaving the back straight, and four of his rivals departed in the ensuing melee.
Sha ne Cotte r’s mo un t managed to avoid the trouble and picked off northern raider Escort’kheops after the final fence to win by four lengths, giving the Cork rider a belated first success of the season after an injury layoff
THE Terence O’Brien-trained Gillets Hill gave a sublime jumping performance to come home as he pleased under Darragh Allen in the Tattersalls Ireland Winter Sale five-yearold geldings’ maiden.
On an afternoon when local Youghal native Davy Russell receive a special presentation from the Killeagh committee, the November Boulta debut fifth Gillets Hill disputed the running with Sailor Mc Kay until ed gin g ahead from halfway.
The winning son of Getaway was always in a lovely rhythm and stormed clear on the ascent from two out, throwing another fabulous leap at the final fence to beat Never Surrender by eight lengths in the style of one we will be hearing a lot more about.
“He’s a smashing horse who blew up in Boulta, but things have turned around since then and my horses are in better form now,” O’Brien said of the to we ri ng Gi llet s Hi ll, a maternal grandson of the former six-time track winning ma re Gree nf lag Pr in c ess owned by Youghal breeder Jim Browne and his son David.
“Dar ragh Allen said he jumped like a buck today and he’l probably now go to the Ch el tenh am sa le ne xt weekend.”
Ontheropes gave meaning to the maxim ‘once a good horse, always a good horse’ by making a victorious return to hunt racing under handler Tom Mullins’ 20-year-old son Charlie in the Coolmara Stables open.
The 11-year-old, who won the 2021 Munster National at Limerick when trained by Mullins’ elder brother Willie and representing Cheveley Park Stud, came from the rear of the six-runner field to go second behind Vado Forte from two out.
Th e wi nnin g so n of Presenting surged past the gallant Vado Forte before the last to beat Evan Nugent’s mount by two lengths
Charlie Mullins, who was po st in g a sec ond po in ts success, said: “My uncle Willie gave him to me five months ago and said I could have him for hunter chasing. I was a bit worried about fitness coming here and we will try to win another open with him now.”
Walshtown handler Donie Murphy, who bred Ontheropes, then teamed up with his son James to land the Fogarty Bros and Pegus Horse Feeds six-yearold-and-upwards geldings’ maiden with Thethirstyfarrier
Star performance
Fedneys Park appreciated the better ground and made all for a decisive win
The nine-year-old avenged his second-placed effort at Quakerstown in November, disputing the running from five out until asserting from the second-last to beat Mount Rinjani by six lengths
The younger Murphy will have gained immense satisfaction from this success as he also owns the nine-year-old.
There was yet another family vic tor y in the Hu rle y’s SuperValu five-year-old mares’ maiden when Fedneys Park
made all the running under a well-judged ride from Harry Goff, son of handler Mick Goff
Fedneys Park, who ran only once la st se as on when finishing third to subsequent UK Listed bumper winner Supreme Malinas at Ballyknock, forged clear from two out to beat newcomer Warrioress by six lengths
“She didn’t ha ndle the testing ground at Ballyknock last year,” the elder Goff said of the Walk In The Park-sired wi nner, whom his wi fe Caitriona shares with breeder Gary Adams. “She’s unreal to jump and she gallops and stays.”
It was a red-letter afternoon for 17-year-old Jack Collins,
from Rathcormac, who rode his first winner on Garrett Ahern’s Ceis Charraigin in the Drury Tea & Coffee and Gain Equine Nutrition six-year-old -and-upwards mares’ maiden for novice riders. The ex-track performer, who is owned by Pat Pyne, was another to benefit from pacesetting tactics when beating Paddyskatie by six lengths
The closest finish of the day came in the ITBA mares’ winners-of-two when the Tinahely runner-up Get Off Your Phone, having led to three out, bravely came again under handler Darragh Berry’s nephew Josh Berry to deny Carry On Heidi for the Run For Fun Partnership
Turtulla card
Harry Goff drives home Fedneys Park in the five-year-old mares’ maiden
IDAHOSUN,bred by Tom&SylvesterMcAuliffe and a €60,000Arkle Sale purchase by KevinRossBloodstock,scored under a penalty at Windsor on Sunday for HarryFry to remain unbeaten
RACINGPOST
SPINNINGAYARN,winner of his only point-to-point for SeanDoyle,scored on his debut under rules at Navan on Saturday for GordonElliott and Robcour
❝I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up going for the Cheltenham Bumper. He's very nice.❞ GordonElliott
His other Championship bumper candidates include 9-length Fairyhouse winner FUTURE PROSPECT (Willie Mullins) and Cheltenham Listed winner SEOLINN (PaddyTwomey)