It wasn't quite Hamlet without the prince, but after Imperial Call won yesterday's Ericsson Chase at Leopardstown, it was hard not to think of what might have happened had Dorans Pride been in south Dublin and not in Co Limerick nursing a sore leg.
The £50,000 race had been built up as an eyeball-to-eyeball clash between the former Gold Cup winner and the present Gold Cup favourite. However, when trainer Michael Hourigan pulled Dorans Pride out of his box yesterday morning, there was just enough of a hint of heat in a foreleg to rule the match out.
With Dorans Pride's injury reported on the morning radio news, the crowd at Leopardstown was expected to suffer, but it was hard to see where as an attendance of 13,700 streamed through the gates.
A returning hero is always a crowd pleaser and Imperial Call at 4 to 7 carried off the Ericsson prize in some style to earn a rousing cheer from the large West Cork contingent present, including the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh.
"He looked like he enjoyed that," said Imperial Call's trainer Fergie Sutherland, who, while delighted to pick up the first prize, was only too aware of the disappointment that the Dorans Pride camp must have felt.
"It shows what a feat it is to get horses to the track at all. There are a lot of stones out there just waiting for them," he said.
Hourigan, speaking from Limerick commented: "Dorans Pride was lame this morning, but not in every step. It's only a small thing and a case could have been made for running him if he was a lesser horse, but he's too valuable. He could go for the Boyne Handicap Chase at Naas next Saturday instead."
Dorans Pride and Imperial Call are eventually set to meet in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and after yesterday's display, Imperial Call is now as low as 7 to 1 second favourite for that race.
Imperial Call was only one reason for the greater number of contented faces leaving Leopardstown yesterday than on the previous two days. Five of the seven favourites obliged, including Commanche Court, trained by Ted Walsh, who is now the clear favourite with every bookmaker for the Ladbroke Hurdle here on January 10th.
In the circumstances then, it was a relieved Leopardstown manager who greeted the positive figures streaming into his office at the end of the day.
"When I heard about Dorans Pride this morning, I got a hollow feeling inside. We were very disappointed, but the crowd was still very good. We've now had 46,000 people over the three days, which is 3,000 up on the whole of last year's meeting," John White said.
The bookmaker turnover was also up yesterday, reaching a total of £877,106. That was over £200,000 up on last year and the biggest betting race was the second race, where £139,000 was wagered. With the benefit of a carryover, the Tote Aggregate reached just over £315,000.
Excellent figures, but the thought remained - what might they have been if Dorans Pride had made it?
