RACING NEWS:THE 2007 Champion Hurdle winner Sublimity is set for a first appearance on the flat in over four years when he lines up for tomorrow evening's feature at Leopardstown. The double Grade One-winning hurdler is one of 10 entries for the Séamus and Rosemary McGrath Memorial Savel Beg Stakes, a Listed race over a mile and six that has been won by star names such as Yeats, Media Puzzle and Vinnie Roe in recent years.
Among this year’s contenders are last year’s Melbourne Cup fifth, Profound Beauty, as well as the unbeaten Vintage Crop Stakes winner Alandi.
Along with the British-trained pair of The Betchworth Kid and Hindu Kush, they represent some high-class flat staying form. But that hasn’t stopped Sublimity’s trainer, Rob Hennessy, keeping his stable star in training for a little longer than usual.
“We were going to run at Punchestown but there was no point with the heavy ground. He’s in great order and we’ve decided to give him a run,” he said yesterday.
“It’s the only race suitable for him on the flat and it’s been a good race to us in the past.”
The Sublimity colours of Hennessy’s father, Bill, were carried to a surprise, 14 to 1 Savel Beg victory in 2003 with Windermere.
Sublimity has a smart flat CV of his own, having landed the 2005 Alleged Stakes at the Curragh on his first start for former trainer John Carr. He also enjoyed one of his finest hours at Leopardstown last Christmas when landing the December Festival Hurdle.
“He’s an older horse now so I don’t think the mile and six will be a problem to him. Séamus Heffernan will ride and I would imagine he will drop him out as usual,” Hennessy said before confirming this is just a once-off return to the flat.
“I would imagine we will go the same route over hurdles in the winter. We will possibly start off in the Fighting Fifth, where he was unlucky last season, then back for the December Hurdle,” he added.
This evening’s Punchestown card is all-National Hunt and features an interesting conditions chase where Jayo can follow up a course-and-distance success at the festival here last month.
Jumping was a concern for the horse named after Dublin footballer Jason Sherlock on the run in to that race, but it held up well and Jayo was not all out to beat Jaamid by four lengths. His trainer, Willie Mullins, also runs Candy Girl in today’s race, but other names to contend with include the 2006 Gold Cup third, Forget The Past, as well as former Troytown winner Royal County Star.
Tony Martin’s horse won a Cork hurdle on his last start but shouldn’t find this two-and-a- quarter mile trip too much of a problem based on a Grade Three Navan victory in March, a race he subsequently lost at the Turf Club for failing a dope test.
Noel Meade gives Prima Vista a first start over jumps in the first division of the two-mile maiden hurdle and Paul Carberry’s mount looks interesting. He was well supported on his Down Royal debut in a bumper and won easily.
Nina Carberry can make it a family double in the bumper aboard Teffia Rose, who found only Blazing Tempo too good for her here at the festival.
Odds for O'Brien to control Derby cut
MICHAEL DICKINSON'S remarkable first-five-home in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup could be under threat from Aidan O'Brien in Saturday week's Epsom Derby if some punters are right with their predictions, writes Brian O'Connor.
William Hill’s original 100 to 1 odds about the Irish champion trainer saddling the first five home in the world’s most famous classic have been halved by those eager to bet O’Brien will dominate completely at Epsom.
It is just 5 to 1 about him having a 1-2-3 and only 20 to 1 about O’Brien having the first four home.
The Ballydoyle trainer has dominated the trials for Epsom, with the trio of Age Of Aquarius, Golden Sword and Black Bear Island winning major British trials, while the favourite, Fame And Glory, was impressive in the Derrinstown at Leopardstown.
However, speculation continues to grow that stable jockey Johnny Murtagh will end up on the Newmarket 2,000 Guineas fourth Rip Van Winkle.
Murtagh has admitted he has a “soft spot” for the son of the 2001 Derby hero Galileo.
