Le Coudray gives punters a fright

RACING/Leopardstown Report: Le Coudray did win the Denny Gold Medal Chase, but the way he did it was guaranteed to help clear the bloated St Stephen's Day systems of those who bet the odds on. Brian O'Connor reports.

Just half a length separated the JP McManus-owned star from Bust Out at the line, and, as if that weren't enough, Christy Roche subsequently put a qualifier on Le Coudray appearing at Cheltenham.

"If the ground is good at Cheltenham you won't see him. He's a horse we want to keep in one piece," said the Curragh trainer.

Le Coudray's leg problems meant he missed three years racing before this season, but if the vital give in the going is there in March, the SunAlliance Chase remains the target.

"Everyone knows what a lovely horse he is," Roche added. "We took a chance today at this trip but I didn't want him carrying an 8lb penalty. I'm glad it has worked out."

Le Coudray remains a 10 to 1 shot for the SunAlliance behind yesterday's impressive Kempton scorer Jair Du Cochet, who is the new 6 to 1 favourite.

But in the meantime he will be kept busy while the ground is soft, and the newly-boosted £100,000 Gerarrd Reynoldstown Chase at Ascot in February is a likely option.

"He would have been better off the pace rather than having to make it. It got close, but he did well to do it," reported jockey Barry Geraghty.

Bust Out, only a neck off Istabraq last year, did enough to earn a 16 to 1 quote from Cashmans for the Arkle in March.

Geraghty also won the Grade Two Juvenile Hurdle on Party Airs, who earned a 25 to 1 tag for the Triumph Hurdle for edging out the outsider Kenilworth.

"Conditions are a bit different to Australia and the US, but this is a tough horse. He was one of the few winners I had at Galway on the soft going this year," said globe-trotting trainer Dermot Weld, who later doubled up with Govamix in the bumper.

"We will consider the Triumph. I had been worried about him staying on this ground but he is tough and his jumping kept him in it. The Triumph would be one way to go and the Lincoln would be another," said Weld.

Party Airs is Weld's only juvenile hurdler this season. He won the Triumph Hurdle with Rare Holiday in 1990.

The 5 to 4 favourite in the Juvenile, Golden Cross, managed only sixth of the seven finishers, but afterwards it was found he had swallowed some muck.

Another man on the double was Paul Carberry who proved yet again he can reach a different level when at the top of his game.

Mullacash had to get the full Carberry treatment to justify favouritism in the two and a quarter mile maiden, eventually beating off Liscannor Lad by the minimum margin.

"He's a great man to have on your side," acknowledged trainer Noel Meade, who had been confident beforehand.

"I thought he would win and to be honest I thought he would win better than that. We think he is quite good. Two and a half would probably suit him better and that was as soft as he'd want," he said.

It was a different story in the handicap hurdle where Rare Ouzel figured only in the final strides, beating GVA Ireland by a length.

Rare Ouzel was only sixth, and the guts of 10 lengths off the pace, on the turn in. A last-flight mistake didn't help his cause, but Carberry timed it to perfection.

Rare Ouzel had run second on his previous start at Cheltenham but subsequently tested positive for morphine. "It's only a formality that he'll go," said trainer Tony Martin.

In the opening maiden hurdle, it looked as if Thaix was a leader on sufferance but none of the rest could collar him and he strode clear again on the run-in to beat Poachin Again by six lengths. It was enough to earn the Michael O'Brien-trained horse a 33 to 1 quote for the SunAlliance Hurdle.

There were no such fancy quotes after the four-runner handicap chase, where Wilton Bridge jumped poorly and the favourite, Rheindross, galloped to a comfortable success under Barry Cash.