RACING:First Lieutenant might be something of a "forgotten horse" compared to Sir Des Champs when Ireland's chances of landing this season's Cheltenham Gold Cup are being discussed but he remains resolutely on target for steeplechasing's blue-riband according to Mouse Morris.
The Co Tipperary trainer has adopted the same under-the-radar approach with First Lieutenant he famously used with War of Attrition before securing a memorable Gold Cup success in 2006.
War of Attrition ran at Leopardstown over Christmas, finishing runner-up in the equivalent of the Lexus Chase, and only returned to action with a flamboyant victory at the festival almost three months later.
That victory sealed Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary’s love affair with the most coveted National Hunt prize of all and his Gigginstown Stud operation holds a major Gold Cup hand with just over three weeks to go to the start of the Cheltenham Festival.
Sir Des Champs is a general 4/1 second favourite after an impressive Hennessy Gold Cup win last weekend but strictly on the form book has ground to make up on First Lieutenant on Lexus Chase running during Christmas.
Got closest
Both Gigginstown horses were behind the winner Tidal Bay but it was First Lieutenant that got closest of all to the winner with Sir Des Champs only fourth.
First Lieutenant hasn’t been seen in action since then and with O’Leary sponsoring the Ryanair Chase on day three of the festival, the same bookmakers who make First Lieutenant a 12/1 shot for Gold Cup glory are going just 5/1 about him being switched to the Ryanair instead.
The likelihood is that First Lieutenant will be kept in both races until as late as possible but Morris is in no doubt about which race he would like to go for. “My preference is for the Gold Cup but I have yet to talk to the owners,” he said yesterday. “It has yet to be discussed and I’m sure he will be left in both but my preference is the longer race.”
Although First Lieutenant hasn’t got his head in front in any race for 16 months, he is a proven former festival winner, in the 2011 Neptune Hurdle when beating the subsequent Champion Hurdle victor, Rock On Ruby, and ran a fine second to Bob’s Worth in the RSA last year. As well as the Lexus, he has been placed already this season in the Hennessy at Newbury and the JNwine Champion Chase at Down Royal.
The choice between the Gold Cup and the Ryanair was faced by Michael O’Leary in 2006 when the owner indicated almost up to festival week that his preference was to run in the race he sponsors. However, Morris ultimately got his way and recorded a famous success.
That Gold Cup put a seal on a fascination with the Cheltenham Festival that has enthralled the trainer for more years than he cares to remember.
Enjoyable as ever
It was in 1974 that the then amateur jockey rode Mr Midland to success in the four-mile National Hunt Chase. A couple of years later Morris rode Skymas to land the Queen Mother Champion Chase, a race he won as a trainer in 1986 with Buck House.
He describes the build-up to Cheltenham as being as enjoyable as ever but it is the Gold Cup that remains the jewel in the festival crown. Nevertheless Morris has another prime festival contender for Gigginstown in the Slaney Hurdle winner Rule The World. He holds entries in both the Neptune and the Albert Bartlett over three miles.
“The two mile-five race (Neptune) looks the one at the minute but he too will be kept in both. There are a lot of things to consider, including weather conditions closer to the time, but the shorter race looks the one at the minute,” he said.
The prolific winner Baily Green is a 33/1 shot for an Arkle Trophy dominated by Simonsig but could be given his shot by Morris whose Punchestown Festival winner China Rock also holds entries in both the Ryanair and the Gold Cup. Famous for getting his horses to peak at the right time for Cheltenham, nobody forgets Morris, or his horses, at the festival.
