Weekend Review – Alaivan Books Triumph Ticket

ALAIVAN STAR OF THE SHOW!

Eddie O`Gradys juvenile hurdler Alaivan (4/6F) slammed his rivals in Saturdays Grade Two Winning Fair Juvenile Hurdle at Fairyhouse and in so doing shot to the head of The Triumph Hurdle ante-post lists with some firms. Andrew McNamara had few problems landing the odds and his hurdling was particularly impressive. Without doubt his shrewd trainer will have him tuned up for the big day in March though his conqueror at Christmas, Carlito Brigante, will take beating I feel.

It was a shame that the high profile Naas meeting scheduled for Sunday fell foul to the continuing harsh winter weather as it was set to provide some valuable clues to some major events ahead. Nonetheless there were plenty of interesting performances during the past week. Some of the other highlights included -:

FEB 20th

FAIRYHOUSE

• In addition to the Juvenile Hurdle reviewed above the other Grade Two on  the Fairyhouse card was the At The Races Bobbyjo Chase and it produced a 1-2 for the Dessie Hughes yard when Vic Venturi (3/1), ridden by Paddy Flood, defeated  stablemate Black Appalachi by 8 Lengths with One Cool Cookie back in third. The Aintree Grand National is on the winners agenda and given his previous good form around the track he will have a sporting chance in April.

• Day Of A Lifetime, from the all conquering Willie Mullins stable, was a springer in the Festival Bumper Market on Saturday morning and he gave his Ante-Post supporters plenty of hope when making an impressive debut in the card’s concluding Bumper under the trainer’s son Patrick. Sent off the red-hot 2/5 Favourite he sauntered to an easy five and a half length victory.

FEB 18^th

CLONMEL

• The Powerstown Chase was the Feature race in Clonmel on Thursday and it was won in effortless fashion by Quiscover Fontaine (6/5F). It was yet another prize for the unstoppable Willie Mullins yard, which completed a treble on the card. The winner coasted to a 17L victory under Emmett Mullins from Swift Counsel.

• The other Willie Mullins` winners were The Midnight Club (Evens Fav) who won the Beginners Chase, completing a double for Emmett Mullins on the card, and Some Target (8/13 Fav) who was guided to victory by Ruby Walsh in the Demense Maiden Hurdle.

FEB 17^th

PUNCHESTOWN

• There were a number of Cheltenham bound horses in action at Punchestown on Wednesday. Current favourite for the Neptune Investments Novice Hurdle, Rite of Passage, put up a most polished performance and impressed again with a facile win in the opening race. Sent off a prohibitive 2/7 shot he travelled smoothly, jumped very well and effortlessly out-pointed the useful Healys Bar to cement his Festival claims for D.K Weld and Robbie McNamara.

• Also heading to the Cotswolds is Sabrina Harty`s stable star Won In The Dark who readily justified Even money favouritism in the Five Day Festival Hurdle under jockey Davy Russell. He will be an outsider in the Champion Hurdle and there will be worse long-shots in the race!

• A major talking point at Punchestown on Wednesday was the monstrous gamble that was landed by the Gordon Elliott trained and Joey Elliott ridden Cayo Levantado in the Handicap Hurdle on the card. The winner was available at 20/1 in the morning and was incredibly backed all the way down to a starting price of 2/1.!  Though he looked in trouble as they turned in to the home straight the layers had their worst fears realised when Cayo Levantado found his second wind and stayed on stoutly for a memorable win.

Trainers in form;

E.O`Grady, W.Mullins, G.Elliott, D.Hughes.

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Happy Punting

JOE Q

Posted by Joe on February 22, 2010. Filed under Race Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.