Punters hopeful over weather for festival programmes

The weather forecast is likely to be the main topic of conversation among racing fans in the build-up to Christmas, with hopes that the present cold snap, which has decimated racing on both sides of the Irish Sea of late, relents in time for the high-profile racing festival programme to go ahead.
Met Éireann are predicting a thaw to arrive on Christmas Eve and it is very much a case of fingers crossed that the forecasters are correct, as all is set for the busiest week of racing is this country.  
Limerick’s four-day Christmas racing festival has long been a mecca for punters in the Mid-West and this year’s programme looks bigger and better than ever. Course manager Russell Ferris and his team have been working overtime to get this meeting on and speaking to The Clare Champion on Monday, Ferris was optimistic that the fixture would get the green light.
“We have been very lucky here that we didn’t have any snow and it is looking very good for us for racing as scheduled. We will be using fresh ground each day, which is a huge bonus, and to be honest we could probably have raced here this afternoon if we had to. Bookings are up on other years and it is all systems go now for what is the pinnacle of our racing year here at Limerick.”
Action at the Patrickswell venue is due to get underway on St Stephen’s Day, with the €40,000 Greenmount Park Novice Chase taking centre stage. This Grade 2 contest, won last year by Michael Hourigan’s Dancing Tornado, has attracted a top-class field that includes a pair of recent winners from Willie Mullins’ Carlow yard.
Quadrillion looked pretty smart when scoring at Gowran last time while Quel Esprit is another Mullins’ contender with good form. He won quite nicely when beating Torpichen (an easy winner since) over this course last month and the grey French-bred will take beating if facing the starter.
Mouse Morris’ Elysian Rock won twice over fences in the space of 11 days last month, including a fine effort when beating Apt Approach at Thurles. Paul Nolan’s Noble Prince made an impressive start over the larger obstacles when beating Healy’s Bar at Punchestown in October while Quito De La Rouge from Colm Murphy’s yard is the most recent winner among the 19 entries, having scored at Clonmel 10 days ago.
Limerick is racing from Sunday, December 26 to Wednesday, December 29, with other big races such as the Tim Duggan Memorial Handicap Chase (Monday) and Tuesday’s Grade 3 Doran’s Pride Novice Hurdle set to feature some of the best horses around.
Racing each day gets underway at 12.40pm and there are plenty of on-site attractions to keep fans entertained before, during and after racing.
Leopardstown is also in for a wonderful few days, with local interest centring on Noel Glynn’s Becasueicouldntsee, who is currently 12/1 joint-favourite with the sponsors for next Monday’s €190,000 Paddy Power Chase.  Unlucky to lose a shoe prior to running a huge race when second to Poker De Sivola at Cheltenham in March, Becauseicouldntsee is not a certain runner in the Paddy Power as he also holds an engagement in the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow on the same afternoon. Spancilhill-based Glynn hasn’t fully made up his mind as to where the seven-year-old will go, with the prevailing ground conditions likely to influence his final decision.
While there is a feast of activity on the racing front here at home, most National Hunt fans will also be keeping an eye on Kempton’s St Stephen’s Day showpiece, the King George, where wonder horse Kauto Star will bid to make history by winning this three-miler for the fifth consecutive year.
Noel Fehily will deputise for Ruby Walsh aboard Clive Smith’s dual Gold Cup winner, who is currently even-money favourite to re-write the history books. There are two Irish contenders left among Kauto’s 13 possible rivals in Sizing Europe and Forpadydeplasterer.
Sizing Europe is no forlorn hope, having run a good race behind Paul Nicholls’ horse in the JN Wine Chase at Down Royal, while Forpadydeplasterer is a consistent horse who rarely runs a bad race and should get in the shake up if the Kempton meeting goes ahead.   

Stars came out at Fairyhouse

Fairyhouse’s star-studded Bar One Racing day finally managed to beat the elements on Wednesday of last week, where some of the best horses in training in the country did battle.
Four Grade 1s, a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 made for possibly the best day’s racing ever staged here and once again champion trainer Willie Mullins stole the show with a treble that included Hurricane Fly underlining his 2011 Champion Hurdle intentions when he got the better of his old adversary, Solwhit, to land the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle.
This clash had been eagerly awaited and, at the fourth attempt since this race was originally scheduled to be run at the end of last month, racing fans eventually got to see these hurdling giants go head-to-head.
Solwhit, trained in County Limerick by Charles Byrnes and a very easy winner of last season’s Irish Champion Hurdle, went off the even-money favourite to get the better of his 10 rivals, with Hurricane Fly, who was returning from a five-month lay-off, next best at 11/4.
Turing into the home straight in this two and a half-mile test, the main market forces were poised to fight it out as Davy Russell, knowing Solwhit would stay galloping all the way to the line, threw down the gauntlet when kicking clear two out in a bid to take the sting out Hurricane Fly.
Paul Townend was sitting motionless on Hurricane Fly at this point and, despite the fact that Solwhit was still in front jumping the last, Hurricane Fly really got motoring on the run-in, surging clear in the final stages to record a really impressive one and a half-length winning verdict. 
This was a great effort by Hurricane Fly and one that certainly puts him bang there as regards the Champion Hurdle next March. We have seen quite a few eye-catching performances in that regard of late – Peddlers Cross and Menorah just two that spring to mind – but Hurricane Fly, whose next outing may well the December Festival Hurdle at Leoparstown over Christmas, has now been promoted to 7/2 joint-favourite with Menorah for Cheltenham’s 2011 opening day feature.
In-form Mullins had half an hour earlier seen his smart novice Zaidpour turn the competitive Grade 1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle into a procession. With Townend again in the saddle, this French import, who races in the silks of US owner Rich Ricci, simply toyed with opposition as the 4/7 favourite came home hard-held to beat runner-up Pineau De Re by a dozen lengths. 
This was Zaidpour’s second win on the trot since coming from France to join Mullins and, despite the fact that Colin Tizzard’s exciting novice Cue Card is likely to be a banker for the UK in the Supreme Novices at the festival (if he doesn’t go for the Champion Hurdle) this fellow will surely give him bags of it.
Golden Silver made it a hat-trick for the Mullins/Townend duo when successful in the O’Connell Group (Grade 2) Hilly Way Chase, which was switched to the County Meath track when the chase track at Cork was deemed untraceable.
A really consistent performer, Golden Silver was held up early on before making steady progress over the final half-mile as the 4/6 favourite easily picked off the leaders to beat Colm Murphy’s Zarito by four and a half lengths.
Indeed, what was a great day at the races for the Mullins camp may well have been even better had his Mikael D’Haguenet (6/4F) not come to grief at the final fence when holding what looked like a winning hand in the Grade 1Bar One Racing Drinmore Novice Chase. 
This giant-sized six-year-old was returning to action following a 593-day break but he showed no signs of ring-rustiness when jumping for fun under Townend for most of this two and a-half-mile test.  Approaching the last fence, Gordon Elliott’s Galway winner Jessies Dream was upsides Mikeal D’Haguenet, who looked to have just taken that rival’s measure at that point but it all changed when the market leader, who seemed to jump the fence fine, crumbled on landing, handing victory in this €80,000 contest to the Timmy Murphy-ridden, David Johnson-owned Jessies Dream.
While one can never be sure what the final outcome would have been, it certainly appeared as if Townend’s mount had more in the locker that the eventual winner, who had just come under pressure when gifted the race. Nevertheless, Jessies Dream marked a first Grade One success for his Trim, County Meath trainer Gordon Elliott, who had earlier started the day off in the best possible fashion when his Davy Russell-ridden Toner Du Dairies landed the opening Bar One Juvenile 3YO Hurdle in the colours of Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud.
The other Grade 1 contest on this fine card was the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase, which was transferred from the Kildare track when racing was abandoned there earlier in the week. Victory in this two and a half-mile event with Edward O’Grady’s well-backed 5/2 shot Tranquil Sea. A good winner of the Paddy Power Chase at Cheltenham in 2009, Tranquil Sea has warmed up for this €85,000 prize with a smooth success on his seasonal debut in the Clonmel Oil Chase last month. Andrew McNamara’s mount looked back to his best form when asserting from the last to beat J’Y Vole by three parts of a length. The Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham in March is now the main target for this Sea Raven gelding, who is part-owned by Neilus Hayes from Limerick.