RACING:Almost €11 million is expected to be bet at Leopardstown alone during the Christmas holiday period with the traditional St Stephen's Day fixture at the Dublin track being a focus for many in one of the busiest racing weeks of the year.
Wednesday's meeting will attract up to 17,000 customers through the turnstiles at Leopardstown and an estimated 60,000 will pay to watch some of jump racing's greatest stars over the four days of the Christmas festival. With four days at Limerick also set to start on Wednesday, along with another fixture at Down Royal, and a mammoth number of cards in Britain, it provides a betting bonanza for punters.
Wednesday's highlight in England will be the King George VI Chase at Kempton in which Ireland's champion jockey Ruby Walsh will attempt to bring off a famous double aboard last year's winner Kauto Star.
Walsh returned to action at Thurles yesterday after a five-week absence due to a dislocated shoulder and emerged unscathed after two rides. Kauto Star will face six opponents including the sole Irish hope Hi Cloy, the mount of Paul Carberry who will be at Kempton principally to ride Harchibald in the Grade One Christmas Hurdle.
The Noel Meade-trained star won the race in 2004 and Ireland's champion trainer reported yesterday: "I couldn't be happier with the horse. He has been there before and as long as it is not very heavy ground he should be fine. I will leave tactics up to Paul Carberry - I imagine he will drop him in."
There was a setback for the Leopardstown authorities yesterday, however, when only four horses were declared for the day-one feature, the €120,000 Grade One Durkan New Homes Novice Chase. They include the highly-rated Sky's The Limit and Perce Rock who is owned by JP McManus. Leopardstown's manager Tom Burke admitted: "It is disappointing there are only four runners. We would have preferred more than that. I can't explain why it is the case but I would be surprised if the ground is a factor."
Ground conditions in fact look like being the best they have been at Leopardstown for years.
The going was officially "good" yesterday and although up to 15mms of rain is forecast to fall tonight, Burke predicted at least "yielding" ground for the first day of the holiday racing. "I've never seen the ground this good at this time of year in my 20 years here," he said. "It is definitely a lot better than you would normally expect."
That will be good news for some of the star names expected to appear later in the week including Kauto Star's highly-rated stable companion Denman who is due to face a strong field, including the three-time race winner Beef Or Salmon, in Friday's Lexus Chase.
Another Grade One feature will be Saturday's Bewleys Hotel December Festival Hurdle while the day-two highlight will be the Paddy Power Handicap Chase worth €190,000.
Despite there being only four runners there remains a lot of interest in Wednesday's most valuable race with Sky's The Limit fancied to add to his success in the Drinmore Chase at Fairyhouse earlier this month.
"He is schooling well, he's in great form and everything seems right," said his jockey, Andrew McNamara, yesterday. "Perce Rock looks good but he might be a horse that wants further, a bit like ourselves."
Perce Rock's jockey David Casey agreed and said: "Even though there's only four runners it won't be an easy contest."
Punters eager for the off however got a timely reminder yesterday that there are no racing certainties. Catch Me started a 2 to 11 favourite to beat four opponents in a race at Thurles and managed to finish only fourth of five. The winner was Sunshine Guest whose starting price was 25 to 1.
