NEWS ROUND-UP: EDWARD O'GRADY has had a change of heart about giving his big Cheltenham hope Tranquil Sea a pre-festival warm-up race, so the Ryanair Chase candidate will run in Sunday's Grade Two feature at Leopardstown.
The Newlands Chase was cancelled when last Sunday’s Naas card was called off, and O’Grady’s immediate response was to rule out another race for Tranquil Sea before Cheltenham and instead opt for a racecourse gallop.
But the decision by Horse Racing Ireland to reschedule the contest to this Sunday has resulted in a change of plans.
“The chances are that we will declare him and that he’ll run,” O’Grady said yesterday.
“He was going to have a school after racing anyway so we might as well run him.”
Tranquil Sea, a Grade One-winning novice hurdler and winner of this season’s Paddy Power Gold Cup, holds two entries at Cheltenham, in the Champion Chase and the Ryanair, but O’Grady confirmed the longer race is his intended target.
Ireland’s most successful current trainer at the Cheltenham festival could also gallop up to three horses at the traditional post-racing work session at Leopardstown on Sunday, including the Grade One winner Jumbo Rio.
Last season’s leading juvenile holds entries in the Champion Hurdle and the World Hurdle, but his trainer said: “He is also in the Coral Cup and the County Hurdle, so we will wait and keep our options open.”
Up to 40 horses are expected to work out after racing on Sunday, but Leopardstown manager Tom Burke said: “There is a facility there for people to work horses on Monday morning and Tuesday morning as well. Most people are aware we provide the facility on Sunday and just come along.”
The going at Leopardstown was “yielding to soft” after 14mm of rain fell on the Dublin track on Tuesday night.
In other news, Punchestown will reimburse anyone who buys tickets for April’s festival between yesterday and St Patrick’s Day if Nicky Henderson’s Punchestowns wins the RSA Chase at Cheltenham.
“We have been handed a brilliant opportunity here with a top-class horse carrying the Punchestown name,” said the track’s general manager, Dick O’Sullivan.
Punchestowns is favourite for the RSA Chase on St Patrick’s Day, and trainer Henderson said: “I promise to do my best to win with Punchestowns and then lots of Irish racegoers can have a great time at the Punchestown festival for free.
“The horse has had two runs over fences, and although they were very good we would have preferred another before going to Cheltenham.
“He did make a mistake that was well-publicised, but we are all entitled to one mistake.”
In other Cheltenham news, bookmakers William Hill have started betting on the numbers of Irish-trained winners, and their favourite is eight victories at 11 to 4. It is 10 to 1 about a new record tally of 11 or more winners, and 14 to 1 about four or fewer.
“The early money has been for eight, nine, 10 or 11 or more Irish winners, which suggests it will be another bumper year for the Irish,” said a spokesman.
