Cheekpieces back on Noble Yeats for Gold Cup challenge

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Noble Yeats will have the headgear that served him so well at Aintree reapplied when he goes for glory in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The Emmet Mullins-trained eight-year-old sported cheekpieces for the first time in the Randox Grand National, racing to a famous success under amateur rider Sam Waley-Cohen.

He has not worn them since, but they will be back on for the big race on March 17 – a contest Noble Yeats will arrive at on the back of an encouraging third in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham on Trial day.

Noble Yeats triumphing at Aintree last year
Noble Yeats triumphing at Aintree last year (Steven Paston/PA)

Mullins said: “We couldn’t be happier with him. He’s been in great form since the Cotswold Chase and we’re just hoping we get a clean run with him between now and Gold Cup Day.

“I suppose the cheekpieces made a big difference for him last year (in the National), so we’re hoping for a repeat event. Ground-wise I suppose we’re quite laid back and we’ll take what we’re given. I think a proper Gold Cup test will play to his strengths.

“Obviously he’s going to have to step forward from his last run, but it’s something he’s been able to do in the past and hopefully we can repeat it.”

Gold Tweet leading two-pronged French raid on Stayers’ Hurdle

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France will have two runners in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in two weeks, with both Gold Tweet and Henri Le Farceur set to be supplemented for the race.

The Gabriel Leenders-trained Gold Tweet has already shown his ability to British racegoers, winning the Cleeve Hurdle at the track in impressive fashion in January.

He will be joined by Henri Le Farceur, winner of a Grade Two at Auteuil on his last run in December and trained by Hugo Merienne.

Gold Tweet had three lengths to spare over Dashel Drasher in the Cleeve and is a general 8-1 shot for the March 16 showpiece.

Leenders feels he will have no excuses, whatever the pace of the race.

He said: “We are ready to run in the big race. He is relaxed and prepared. He will have some work on Saturday and then a gallop on the grass on Wednesday and then he will be ready.

“He jumps fast and is a very strong horse. He is not a big horse, but he is very strong. If we follow, he has a fast finish, which is perfect in an English race.

“If the race is fast, it is no problem. If the race is steady, it is no problem. He will relax and have enough to finish.”

With the exciting Noel George-trained unbeaten hurdler Il Est Francais looking poised to run in Britain next term, there could soon be a French invasion to mirror those great raids by Francois Doumen a few years ago.

The shoots of a truly international Festival are already beginning to flourish and Leenders added there is plenty of expectation across the English Channel.

“Everybody is excited, I think a lot of French people will come to the Festival and follow him, because it is very exciting for France,” he added.

Henri Le Farceur is another intriguing runner for the three-mile contest on March 16.

The six-year-old has won four of his 17 starts for Merienne, who said: “He is a nice horse. He will like the extra distance and I think he will like the track.

“Let’s have a try – it is a challenge, but we will see. We need to come and improve out knowledge for the future as well.

“He had a long year last year and we gave him a few weeks off.

“A lot of young French trainers who have worked in Ireland and England have come to Cheltenham to watch as a visitor. It is a bit of a dream for us to come here – it is like the World Cup, so let’s try.”

Zanahiyr likely to take on Constitution Hill in Champion Hurdle

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Zanahiyr, who was disqualified from third place behind Honeysuckle in last year’s Champion Hurdle after testing positive for a banned raceday substance, is set to take on Constitution Hill in this season’s renewal.

Trainer Gordon Elliott was fined £1,000 by an independent disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority after a post-race urine test from Zanahiyr was found to contain 3-hydroxylidocaine, a metabolite of the local anaesthetic lidocaine, the source of which could not be established.

Elliott, speaking at the Cheltenham’s launch of the handicap weights, said he is keen to let him take his chance in the Unibet-sponsored day one feature.

He said: “We’ll probably confirm him for the Champion Hurdle and see what numbers are left in. If there are five or six runners, there is every chance he will take his chance in the Champion and we’ll ride him for a place.

“Obviously it looks a very hot race, with Constitution Hill and State Man and a few others, but our idea is we are going to go.

“We will get a look at all the weights (in other races) and see what’s what. It will probably be by the end of the week before we confirm what is going where.”

Conflated is Gold Cup-bound
Conflated is Gold Cup-bound (Niall Carson/PA)

Conflated is the County Meath-based yard’s big Gold Cup hope, having landed the Savills Chase over Christmas.

He fell in last year’s Ryanair Chase, and while Elliott has no qualms about his ability to handle the course, he feels he is different to Don Cossack, who won the blue riband for Cullentra House in 2016.

He said of the nine-year-old: “We are happy with where we are and really looking forward to it now we are two weeks out – we can’t wait.

“Conflated has had a good preparation. He was very good at Leopardstown the last day and was running a good race in the Ryanair last year.

“He is in good nick. It is a competitive race but an open race and we are looking forward to running him.”

He added: “Don Cossack was probably a classier horse and a quicker horse, where Conflated is a real galloper and the trip of the Gold Cup will really suit him.

“We got him in the wrong race last year and we are really looking forward to the Gold Cup now.”

Owner Michael O’Leary (centre) celebrates in the parade ring after winning the Glenfarclas Chase with Delta Work (left), alongside runner-up Tiger Roll
Owner Michael O’Leary (centre) celebrates in the parade ring after winning the Glenfarclas Chase with Delta Work (left), alongside runner-up Tiger Roll (Steven Paston/PA)

Elliott will have four runners in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, spearheaded by last year’s winner Delta Work, who upset stablemate and dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll 12 months ago.

Elliott said: “Delta Work is in great form. This has been the plan since we brought him over to Cheltenham the last day.

“We are really looking forward to the race, but Galvin is going to run in the race along with Mortal and Hardline, so we are going to have four in that one.

“Delta spoiled the part last year (beating Tiger Roll) but obviously Galvin is a good horse.”

The yard appears to have a strong hand in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle where the Gary Moore-trained Botox Has is top-weight on 12st.

Salvador Ziggy, The Bosses Oscar, Maxxum and Level Neverending are all set to run for Elliott, who said: “Maxxum didn’t get the best of runs the last day. The Bosses Oscar was second a few years ago, he obviously has a bad mark, but we are looking forward to running them.”

American Mike, who was runner-up to Facile Vega in last season’s Champion Bumper, could be a dark horse for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle on day two, despite failing to impress on a couple of occasions subsequently.

Elliott feels he could surprise and said: “If he runs, it will be in the Ballymore.

“He has been disappointing, but I wouldn’t give him up on him just yet.”

Three Card Brag, a runaway winner of a Fairyhouse novice hurdle in January, holds several entries in handicaps, but could end up in the Albert Bartlett.

“At the moment we are kind of leaning towards the Albert Bartlett. He is a very good horse and he is going to be an exciting chaser next year.,” Elliott said.

There is no doubting the regard in which Elliott holds Mighty Potter, who is unbeaten in three starts over fences, including twice at the top level. He holds entries in both the Brown Advisory and Turners Novices’ Chase.

Mighty Potter could be a star in the making
Mighty Potter could be a star in the making (Lorraine O’Sullivan/PA)

Asked if he could be the best he has trained, Elliott replied: “It is very hard to say. He has done nothing wrong in his career so far.

“I know it is the old saying that when you are jumping hurdles you say you are looking forward to going chasing, but with Mighty Potter it really does look the case.

“He is very good horse. We will be nervous looking at him, because we are really looking forward to him running.”

Though pulled up behind Constitution Hill in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle last year, Mighty Potter gained Grade One laurels at Punchestown and has been foot-perfect over fences this term.

Elliott added: “He blew out here last year. He made a mistake early and never got into a rhythm. Jack (Kennedy) very wisely eased up on him and saved him and we had a horse for Punchestown.

“He never really jumped a hurdle as well as he did fences.”

Asked for one horse whom he felt was his best chance in one of the Cheltenham handicaps, Elliott said: “Imagine in the Martin Pipe. If he runs, he will have a great chance.”

Weather conditions have proved challenging for Cheltenham officials

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Cheltenham officials are concerned about the grass growth on the New course ahead of the Festival meeting in a fortnight’s time.

Clerk of the course Jon Pullin said the dry, cold spell, which has seen just 10 millimetres of rain fall since the Trials day meeting at the end of January, has meant getting the ground ready for the four-day spectacular has been “a real challenge”.

Officials have laid down fleece on the New course to encourage grass growth and have been irrigating the track with temperatures set to drop over the next few days.

Pullin said: “It’s been a tricky period. It has been a real challenge. We haven’t had any significant rain since January 15. We have had 10mm since the 15th. In the corresponding period last year we’d had 58mm.

“We commenced watering the week beginning February 13.

It has been a challenging time weather-wise
It has been a challenging time weather-wise (Simon Milham/PA)

“We wanted to start irrigating for two reasons, firstly to help with grass growth and recovery and to get ahead of the game a little bit as far as going is concerned in case we came into a cold snap, which now looks as though it will materialise.

“We are heading into a cold spell over the next 24 to 48 hours. Indications are for wintry showers early next week and cold temperatures overnight. But most forecasts suggest we should be out of the cold spell by next weekend and hopefully warming up.”

He added: “We have put fleece covers down on the New course, which we raced on (both) New Year’s Day and Trials day, to encourage grass growth.

“It is not in as good a shape as we would like going into the Festival from a grass cover point of view.

“We have got the fleece down and have had it in other areas and the germination sheets as well.

“We just haven’t had weather conditions conducive to recovery. It has just meant that the grass cover is not where we’d like it to be. It is a symptom of temperatures not being where they would ordinarily be.

“We have had more nights below zero than last year and it has just proved a challenge to get that recovery there.

Packed grandstands will be the order of the day later this month
Packed grandstands will be the order of the day later this month (David Davies/PA)

“We have a combination of good, good to soft ground now. It is pretty consistent across both courses. We have managed to get the same irrigation onto the cross-country as well, so we are in good shape in the cross-country course as well.”

Pullin came in for criticism for the decision to water ahead of the second day of the meeting last year, only for the Prestbury Park track to suffer a deluge of rain on Queen Mother Champion Chase day.

Heading into the meeting this time, Pullin is well aware that his decisions will be magnified.

“The criticism comes with the job,” he added. “Clerks up and down the country are facing the same challenges, day in, day out.

“OK, there may be a few more eyeballs on this fixture, but there are decisions we have to make and we will always take a variety of forecasts into account and hopefully make the right decision at the right time.

“It is a difficult decision to make to water. We just felt rather than wait and get potentially get caught out by a cold snap, and with that being quite close to Festival week, we might struggle to get enough water on. We felt it was the best approach to get some water on now and I’m happy with where we are currently.

“If we need to irrigate we can, but we are not chasing it now, that’s for sure.”

Dorking could deliver Festival victory for Crawford

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Stuart Crawford is set to have a small but select squad for the Cheltenham Festival and has highlighted Dorking Cock in the St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase as his best chance of a winner.

The nine-year-old won four times when trained in the UK by Tom Lacey and has added another two strikes since switching to the County Antrim-based handler.

However, it was his performance at Down Royal when hunted down late by David Christie’s Vaucelet that is giving Crawford plenty of cause for optimism.

Only a neck separated the duo at the winning post in the St Stephen’s Day feature, but whereas Vaucelet is the general 2-1 favourite for the amateur jockeys’ contest, Dorking Cock is a best price of 14-1 to turn the tables at Prestbury Park.

“Realistically our best chance would be Dorking Cork in the Foxhunters,” said Crawford.

“I think Vaucelet is a very good horse and he’s as good a young hunter as there is around and I would think there is plenty more improvement to come from him.

“Certainly that day at Down Royal, when the two horses hit the line they went a good bit further before they pulled up. So it would definitely be interesting to take him on again.

“We will definitely be looking forward to him. The horse has been lightly raced and was bought with the race in mind. He has just had a few niggly issues last season and we didn’t get running him where we wanted, but hopefully this year it will all go according to plan.”

Gold Cup Bailly gathered a growing reputation when winning his first three chasing appearances, but had to settle for second behind Thomas Darby at Ayr in his most recent start.

Gold Cup Bailly looks an exciting prospect for Stuart Crawford
Gold Cup Bailly looks an exciting prospect for Stuart Crawford (PA)

The seven-year-old holds an entry for the National Hunt Chase, but a lack of rain could see both him and Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle outsider Ailie Rose skip the Festival.

Crawford continued: “Gold Cup Bailly is in the National Hunt Chase, but he also has a couple of other options and I don’t know whether the ground will be slow enough for him. He probably wants a bit more dig in the ground, so it’ll probably depend on the weather between now and then.

“I’ve a little mare in the mares’ hurdle but she probably wants it a bit slower as well, so she’s another we’ll have to gauge closer to the time.”

Real World all set for Jebel Hatta reappearance this weekend

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Saeed Bin Suroor’s Real World will run for the first time since last summer when he lines up in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan on Saturday.

The six-year-old was last seen at Royal Ascot in June, finishing second to Baaeed in the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile.

His prior run was another second-placed performance behind the great Baaeed, a three-and-a-quarter-length defeat in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in May.

On Saturday 263 days will have passed since the horse last ran and Bin Suroor expects him to just lack full readiness after the lengthy break from the track.

“This will be his first race since June last year, he had a setback and he was out for long time,” he said.

Real World winning the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot in 2021
Real World winning the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot in 2021 (David Davies/PA)

“We’ve given him a lot of time but he’s back now, in training and working well.

“When he comes back for the race he will be at 80 or 85 per cent, but he will need the race to improve from it.”

The Dubai Turf at Meydan’s Dubai World Cup meeting in late March is a key date in the gelding’s calendar and Bin Suroor is hoping the Group One Jebel Hatta will leave him perfectly prepared for that nine-furlong showpiece.

“That’s the target for him, he will hopefully come on to be just right for that,” he said.

Of the effect of a gelding operation since the bay’s last run the trainer added: “He’s doing very well, he’s more relaxed than before and I hope it will also improve him in the future.”

‘Excited’ Vaughan hoping Eva’s Oskar will make National cut

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Tim Vaughan is keeping his fingers crossed Eva’s Oskar will sneak into the Randox Grand National having completed his Aintree preparation in the Eider Chase at Newcastle.

The nine-year-old has enjoyed a solid campaign in staying handicaps this term, showing plenty of guts to win at Cheltenham in December and making a bold bid from the front at Gosforth Park on Saturday until the burden of top weight began to tell in the closing stages, eventually coming home fourth.

Vaughan reports Eva’s Oskar to have bounced out of his trip to the north east and his next appearance will be on April 15 at Aintree, with the Freebooter Handicap Chase that precedes the big race itself set to provide a back-up option.

But the Cowbridge handler is hoping for some good fortune which will allow his Shirocco gelding, who is outside the top 50 in the handicap for the National, to sneak into the main event off bottom-weight.

“He’s absolutely A1, he has come out of the race nicely and we were thrilled with both him and the run,” said Vaughan.

“We’re hoping now to go straight to the Grand National and pray that we get in.

“I don’t know if we will get in and only time will tell, but what we will do is enter him in the three-mile-one chase there on the same day, so if he doesn’t get in the National we have covered off both angles. The main plan though is the National and we’re excited.

“I always thought he wanted softer ground, but in reality he seems to have improved a lot for good ground this year and that will help him see out the trip. He can travel at a bit of speed, he’ll stay and he’ll be off bottom-weight.

“I’m excited, I’m really excited to have a runner in the race and one that will go there all singing and dancing. Now we just have to hope that we get in.”

Patrick Mullins facing tough Champion Bumper choice

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Patrick Mullins believes It’s For Me is a worthy favourite for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper – but admits he faces a tough choice to pick between all his father’s contenders.

Willie Mullins has won the Cheltenham Festival feature 12 times and should his son ride a fourth winner of the Grade One contest in a fortnight’s time, he will go ahead of Ruby Walsh as the race’s most successful rider.

Mullins registered his first Champion Bumper victory aboard Cousin Vinny in 2008 and having partnered plenty of this year’s contenders to success, he rates wide-margin Navan winner It’s For Me as a likely leading light.

He said: “The betting says It’s For Me is our best chance. He won his point-to-point very well, but he was a big price there and although I thought he’d win at Navan last month, I didn’t expect him to win in the manner that he did.

“I’m not sure it was a particularly strong race, but the way he did it was impressive and he would be a fair favourite I’d say.”

Chapeau De Soleil, Western Diego and Fact To File are also prominent in the Closutton team.

“Fact To File improved hugely from his win at Leopardstown at Christmas, so I rode him at the Dublin Racing Festival where he was only beaten by a Flat-bred rival (John Kiely’s entry A Dream To Share) in a slow-run race on good ground,” Mullins added.

“There has to be a chance that he could reverse that form on more watered ground with a hill.

“Western Diego was also very good at Naas, and although he’s quite keen he’s by Westerner and is probably a stronger stayer.”

Fun Fun Fun impressed at the Dublin Racing Festival
Fun Fun Fun impressed at the Dublin Racing Festival (Lorraine O’Sullivan/PA)

Fun Fun Fun carries the same ‘double green’ colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede as It’s For Me, but she would be a special winner for Mullins as he bred the Martaline mare himself – although he cannot ride her at Prestbury Park.

He said: “Fun Fun Fun was hugely impressive at Leopardstown earlier this month in a strongly-run Grade Two, but as she’s a mare I can’t do the weight.

“I bred her myself out of a mare I bought in foal because she was a sister to Yorkhill and she’s entitled to improve. She hadn’t run for more than three months and so I was afraid she mightn’t be fit enough that day.

“She’s got two younger siblings coming through by Doctor Dino, and a third by Jukebox Jury, so if I can’t win it I’m hoping it’s her coming past me on my outside!”

With so many chances, Mullins is expecting a hard call on which horse he will ride come the big day.

He added: “This year nothing has put its hand up to say ‘I’m the special one’, but these horses don’t run very often and they improve at different rates, and so it’s hard to get a handle on them.

“There are lots of options, and I’m probably guaranteed to pick the wrong one. I remember (2013 winner) Briar Hill was very average at home and I wanted him to stay at home for Limerick the week after, but Willie’s view is that if they have a chance they go, and every year we have a 20-1 winner.

“It’s very hard to pick the right one, but as Ruby and I both have three previous winners it would be nice to have another one.”

Patrick Mullins on Cousin Vinny at Cheltenham
Patrick Mullins on Cousin Vinny at Cheltenham (Barry Batchelor/PA)

On the family history with the race, Mullins has memories stretching back as far as his father’s first success as trainer/rider of Wither Or Which 27 years ago.

He said: “I grew up with photos on the wall of Wither Or Which winning in 1996, of ‘Woody’ (Richard Dunwoody) winning on Florida Pearl in 1997, and of Ruby winning on Alexander Banquet in 1998. Also of Joe Cullen, who Charlie Swan rode in 2000, who was owned and bred by my mother and who only went on the lorry because Adamant Approach was lame the day before.

“It’s obviously been a very lucky race for us, and winning on Cousin Vinny in 2008 was the dream, because I hadn’t been riding very long and I’d gone there expecting to ride Drive On Regardless, who finished out the back.

“It was the year that the Wednesday was called off and the bumper was run as the 10th race on Thursday, in near darkness. You never forget a day like that. It was my first Grade One and very special.”