Conor O'Dwyer may have missed the first day of the Punchestwon Festival, but if the jockey doesn't take centre stage today then a lot of punters will go home the poorer.
O'Dwyer rides the top novice Native Upmanship in the £120,000 Heineken Gold Cup, which is ironic considering he picked up the shoulder injury which kept him out yesterday schooling the English challenger Macgeorge on the Curragh.
"I didn't know Native Upmanship would be running and I schooled Macgeorge over four fences on Sunday. He fell at the fourth but, although I'm still a little sore, I will be riding," said O'Dwyer yesterday.
Considering he had been debating whether or not to take the Macgeorge ride, it might be reasonable to assume O'Dwyer is surprised by Native Upmanship's swift graduation to the senior class. But that wouldn't be entirely true.
"He's done nothing wrong this year and I think he deserves a crack at it. If he'd run in the Bradstock Chase it wouldn't have proved anything or told us anything new," O'Dwyer added.
If nothing else Native Upmanship, unbeaten over fences except for a fourth in the SunAlliance Chase, will learn for running against Dorans Pride, Danoli and Stormyfairweather.
However, most pre-race attention will be on the race's other novice Commanche Court who proved his stamina and a lot more in the Irish Grand National. He runs here instead of Rince Ri who just didn't please trainer Ted Walsh at the weekend.
However, it's hard to get away from the formbook evidence that says Native Upmanship gave 7lb and half-length beating to Commanche Court in February's Moriarty Chase. Commanche Court has improved since but so has Native Upmanship who might just be a contender for the very top class next season. If he is to be, then he must at least go close today.
The drying ground could be of some concern to the Youlneverwalkaone camp who are aiming at the Festival race won by Native Upmanship last year, the Stanley Cooker Champion Novice Hurdle.
A hugely disappointing third for the majority of Irish punters in the Cheltenham opener, Youlneverwalkaone, nevertheless, looked a class act before that and had O'Dwyer classing him with the very best he has ridden.
The danger looks to be Sackville who won on good to firm going over three miles at Liverpool but still seems a horse that relishes a cut in the going. He's a real contender but Youlneverwalkalone should have learned a lot from Cheltenham and will be a fresh animal.
Another rider on the double can be the record-breaking Tony McCoy who rides the Liverpool runner-up Ashwell Boy in the Emo Handicap Chase and, significantly, he also gets the leg up on the Dermot Weld-trained Prince Valiant in the handicap hurdle. A run behind Lake Millstatt on the Flat at Cork recently should have brought this horse to a peak.
The other Grade One race is the bumper which has three British runners as well as some of the best of the Irish youngsters. The best value bet, though, could be the ex-Alec Stewart-trained Kolleya who will relish this better ground compared to his two previous runs at Thurles and Leopardstown.
