Aidan O'Brien's dominance this season sees him on the verge of lifting the British trainers title but no one has trained more winners in Ireland than Dermot Weld and the Curragh trainer can emphasise the point at Gowran today.
Weld has had 73 winners, one more than the all-conquering Ballydoyle team, and the volume looks set to increase as he looks to have excellent chances in the opening three races.
Ripple Of Pride's course and distance third to Mutinyonthebounty looks good form and should be good enough in the mile maiden while Without Pretense and Triple Try look hard to beat in the divisions of the seven furlong maiden.
Weld runs Darialann in the amateur race and the hardy campaigner should at least be okay on the ground. It was very different going when Timber King won easily by seven lengths from Discerning Air in a similar race at Listowel but even so, the Roche runner is sure to be a popular choice.
Puget Blue caused an upset in the featured National Lottery Agent Champion Chase at Gowran yesterday.
The field was reduced to seven runners after the withdrawl of Knife Edge, leaving Micko's Dream and Moscow Express to dominate the market. The leading pair looked sure to have the £30,000 event between them when drawing clear entering the straight.
However, both tired in the closing stages as Puget Blue came through under David Casey to beat Moscow Express by a length and a half, with Micko's Dream a further four and a half lengths back in third.
