RACING: Air Force One will bypass the rescheduled Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Leopardstown on Sunday and go straight to Cheltenham. The seven-year-old would have taken his chance at the Dublin track had the race been run as planned last weekend, but his trainer Charlie Mann has now scrapped the idea.
With the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup less than four weeks after the Hennessy and the horse having missed work because of the bad weather, Mann has decided to save his stable star for next month’s blue riband.
“He’s not going to run, he’s missed two bits of work. I’ve been on the gallop trying to move some snow,” said the handler.
“Had the Hennessy been last Sunday he would have run. He worked this morning and he was about a gallop short so he doesn’t run. He’s in very good form but I want to keep him in one piece for the Gold Cup.
“I’m not worried about the Gold Cup. He’s just a gallop short and it’s getting a bit close to Cheltenham now so I am going to leave him under wraps.”
Air Force One, runner-up in the Newbury Hennessy earlier in the season, had the form boosted when his conqueror that day Madison Du Berlais defeated reigning champion Denman at Kempton on Saturday.
Even so, Air Force One is a top-priced 33-1 for the Gold Cup on March 13th.