Ahead of the upcoming Cheltenham Festival, top Irish jockey Paul Townend is showing no signs of holding back, as he prepares to tackle a range of races over the weekend. Townend, who has a selection of Ireland’s prestigious trainer Willie Mullins’s large team of horses at his disposal, is strongly tipped to earn the honour of being declared Cheltenham’s top jockey for the fourth time.
Currently holding the fourth position in the history of most successful festival riders with 28 total victories, Townend, the current champion jockey, has an enticing roster of mounts to look forward to at National Hunt racing’s most anticipated event of the year.
His lineup boasts the favourites for all three major championship awards. Both State Man and El Fabilolo are heavily favoured for the Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase respectively, while Galopin Des Champs leads the betting for Friday’s Gold Cup.
Townend will nevertheless be kept busy at home this weekend. His weekend activities will kick off with a single ride in Saturday’s Beginners Chase at Gowran and will be followed by a further four at Naas on Sunday. His mounts include Minella Cocooner in the €100,000 Bar One Leinster National feature race and also Tactical Move in a four-runner Grade Three.
Meanwhile, his rival Jack Kennedy currently leads the Irish jockey’s championship by six points (108-102) and has three mounts booked for each weekend programme. Mark Walsh, equally rated with Kennedy in some lists for the Cheltenham award, will also be in action four times.
The trio of jockeys can proudly claim a total of 46 Cheltenham Festival wins among them. Meanwhile, Sean Flanagan, with one such win to his credit — a notable victory on 80-1 Jeff Kidder in the 2021 Boodles Hurdle, will also have a busy weekend as he heads to Sandown on Saturday to ride the only Irish challenger in the Betfair Imperial Cup, Minx Tiara. Flanagan will aim to replicate the success of Supreme Package in 2022, which ended a significant drought in Irish victories in the time-honoured race, going back to 2006 and Victram’s triumph for Ado McGuinness.
Despite David O’Brien’s Minx Tiara being viewed as an outsider for the major handicap prize, Brucio was the only one to outperform her at the last Dublin Racing Festival. Meanwhile, Flanagan is set to compete in the Leinster National on Sunday alongside one of Gavin Cromwell’s two hopefuls.
While Keith Donoghue will be riding Velvet Elvis, Flanagan has shed weight to make the cut to ride Hartur D’arc, who had a victorious outing in Clonmel on his first race under Cromwell’s guidance, along with Derek Kierans’ other winning horse. This Sunday Hartur D’arc will brave a three-mile race for the first time, competing against seasoned handicappers like last year’s champion Espanito Bello and 2022 winner Diol Ker.
Minella Cocooner will also be debuting in the handicap race but will have to concede significant weight to Hartor D’arc under challenging conditions. “Hartur D’arc had an excellent performance during his first beginners’ chase at Clonmel. He’s on a positive track going into the Leinster National with a beneficial light weight. The length of Sunday’s race may be a concern but if he holds up, there’s a good chance for him,” Cromwell stated.
Additionally, Sunday’s Limerick meet includes a Grade Three award in the Shannon Spray Novice Hurdle. Danny Mullins is set to represent the promising Mullins entry, A Penny A Hundred in what is anticipated to be a perfect endurance test for the mare, who trailed Jade De Grugy recently.
In a separate event, the Grade One Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham is almost certainly the next target for Lossiemouth, as expressed by owner Rich Ricci on Friday. He dispelled any speculation of her being a last-minute substitute against stablemate State Man in the Champion Hurdle. He commented, “It has always been our intention to participate in the Mares’ Hurdle. If she’s up to par, we’d love to give the boys a good run next year”.
Many may surmise that she ought to compete in the Champion Hurdle, yet a close inspection of her peak ratings and times result doesn’t meet the standards that won Champion Hurdle over the past decade. Thus, it seems we’re on the right track.
The Champion Hurdle’s development will be closely monitored. However, presently, the primary objective is for her to contend in the Mares’ Hurdle,” asserted the individual from the US.
Switching to other racing news, out of the 12 jockeys penalised with five-day suspensions for their involvement in a contentious race at Dundalk the previous week, 10 have decided to challenge the imposed sanctions. The hearing for these appeals is scheduled on the Wednesday of next week.
The stewards at Dundalk stepped in following a two-mile amateur handicap that Wrecking Ball Paul, the clear early frontrunner, won without any challenge.
Some of the nation’s esteemed amateurs, such as Finny Maguire, John Gleeson and Harry Swan, were part of the chasing group. They are among those deemed to have violated the rule necessitating riders to make a fair attempt at harnessing their horse’s fulsome efforts to secure the best placement.
The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board revealed on Friday that 10 out of the penalised riders, inclusive of Maguire, Gleeson, and Swan have decided to contest the decision. The only two who didn’t are PA Dunne and SP Queally.
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