NEWS ROUND-UP:GORDON ELLIOTT reports Beautiful Sound unlikely to take his chance in the rearranged Connolly's Red Mills Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park tomorrow. The lightly-raced nine-year-old has won two of his three starts this winter, and the Meath trainer is thinking of saving the Gigginstown House Stud gelding for a spring campaign.
“I’ll have to talk it over with the owners, but at the moment I think we might give it a miss,” Elliott said. “He’s a big, lean horse and we’ll freshen him up for another couple of weeks. He could be a horse for the staying handicap chases later in the year.”
However, Elliott intends to run Tharawaat in the PJ Foley Memorial EBF Novice Chase at that meeting.
“He’s going for the race that was called off last weekend. He’s in good nick and hopefully he can run a big race,” he added.
Trainer Philip Fenton has revealed he might give Dunguib an entry in the Coral Cup as an alternative to the Stan James Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The Tipperary handler hopes to glean more when his stable star makes a belated reappearance in the Red Mills Trial Hurdle at Gowran Park on February 12th. That race, over two-and-a-half miles, will be the longest the multiple Grade One winner has tried.
Fenton wants to get a prep into the 2009 Weatherbys Champion Bumper hero, as he is running out of time before Cheltenham after poor blood results forced Dunguib to miss the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday.
“The last tests we have had done have come back normal. We did have him on the easy list, he wasn’t doing any strong work but he was cantering every day,” he said.
“We are beginning to panic a bit, but the idea is to go to Gowran in two weeks for the Red Mills over two-and-a-half. That will be the furthest he’s ever raced. It was two-miles-two before that.
“He has recovered and he’s working well, so we’ll go for the Red Mills Hurdle.”
Eoin Griffin is looking for Glencove Marina to book his ticket to the Cheltenham Festival with a prominent showing in the Ryan Memorial Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles today.
The nine-year-old, formerly trained by Willie Mullins, has endured his fair share of injury problems during his career but is still a force judged on recent results.
After winning a Listed prize at this track, he went on to shape with credit in the John Durkan at Fairyhouse and most recently in Leopardstown’s Lexus Chase. Griffin is delighted to have such a high-class individual in his yard and sees the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival as his perfect spring target.
“He’s in good order, we’re dropping back to two-and-a-half miles, which on this ground is far enough for him,” said Griffin.
“Hopefully he’ll run a good race and, all going well, he’ll then go to Cheltenham for the Ryanair. He should get the good ground he likes over there and that should suit him much better than the softer ground he has been running on through the winter.”
