Sizing John set for return to fences in Irish Gold Cup

It’s over two years since the 2017 Gold Cup hero Sizing John has run over fences but Jessica Harrington’s star is on track to return to familiar ground at this weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival.

Sizing John’s victory in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup of three years ago was the first leg of a memorable big race ‘Triple Crown’ that propelled him to ‘Horse of the Year’ honours.

Subsequent ‘Blue Riband’ glory at Cheltenham was followed by another Gold Cup victory at Punchestown and the racing world looked at his feet when he resumed the following season with another Grade One success in the John Durkan Chase,

However defeat at Leopardstown over Christmas of 2017 was a precursor to a series of injury problems that kept Sizing John on the sidelines until finally returning to action recently over hurdles on New Year’s Eve.

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A third last flight exit caught most everyone by surprise. However crucially the 10-year-old emerged unscathed and Harrington is preparing him for another crack at this Sunday’s Gold Cup which is the €250,000 highlight of the festival.

“The plan at the moment is still to run him. I haven’t thought any further than that,” said the veteran trainer on Monday.

The state of the Leopardstown ground continues to be at the forefront of the build-up to this weekend’s action with watering set to continue on the steeplechase course throughout the week.

Last year’s Gold Cup card was decimated by 22 non-runners – including half a dozen in the big race itself – due to quick ground which hadn’t been watered on the run-up to the big festival.

In contrast this time watering has been ongoing since last week with many leading figures keeping a close eye on how effective it will be, including the connections of other Gold Cup contenders, Delta Work and Presenting Percy.

Clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer reported on Monday a largely dry weather outlook for the week ahead. The going on the chase track remains yielding and yielding to soft in places.

Big test

“Essentially for the week there’s not a while pile of rain. There might be a little bit of rain on Friday, three to four mils. After that, the early hours of Sunday morning, there might be another five mils.

“The watering programme is continuing on the chase track. I suppose our aim is not to have the word ‘good’ in the going description for the Dublin Racing Festival,” he said.

Harrington appeared relaxed on the issue for Sizing John and added on Monday: “I’m not going to make an issue about it. He’s an intended runner.”

The returning star is currently a general 14-1 shot to regain the Irish Gold Cup crown three years later.

Henry De Bromhead is another trainer eager for soft ground at the weekend as he readies his rising star Chris's Dream for the Gold Cup.

The Troytown winner faces a big test in jumping to Grade One level and will need juice in the going to be at his best.

“It is subject to ground; he definitely likes a nice ease in the ground. We’ll monitor that and see. If it is only just watered ground it probably wouldn’t be ideal for him,” De Bromhead reported.

“He would definitely want the word ‘soft’ in the going description so we’ll see nearer the time,” he added.