O'Grady to have seven runners at festival

IRELAND’S MOST successful Cheltenham Festival trainer, Edward O’Grady, plans to have seven runners at Prestbury Park next week, including the unbeaten bumper hope, Shot From The Hip.

It’s 36 years since Mr Midland opened O’Grady’s Cheltenham account in the four-mile National Hunt Chase and the Co Tipperary trainer’s tally now stands at 18.

Jumbo Rio will fly the O’Grady flag in the Champion Hurdle while Tranquil Sea is rated Ireland’s main hope for the Ryanair Chase by bookmakers.

Shot From The Hip powered into the Weatherbys Champion Bumper picture with an impressive win at Leopardstown nine days ago and will attempt to emulate O’Grady’s previous winners of the Cheltenham Bumper, Pizarro in 2002 and Mucklemeg in 1994.

Any speculation that amateur rider JP Magnier, son of Shot From The Hip’s owner John Magnier, would not be on board the horse at Cheltenham was squashed yesterday when O’Grady said: “JP rides. It was never going to be anything else.”

O’Grady’s other hopes are Osana in the Arkle, Capellanus in the Fred Winter Hurdle, Rocco’s Hall in the Pertemps Final and Alaivan, who tops the betting for the Triumph Hurdle.

The seven-strong team for Cheltenham will also be joined by Lou’s Coole Girl who will take part in a special ladies race organised for the first time at the festival this year.

O’Grady won’t be represented in the festival opener, the Spinal Research Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, but Willie Mullins plans to take on the odds-on hotpot Dunguib with his hope, Blackstairmountain.

Successful in his sole start to date over hurdles, Blackstairmountain is a general 12 to 1 shot for the Supreme and even the presence of Dunguib isn’t preventing Mullins from fancying his chances.

“If he jumps well enough he must have a great chance,” the champion trainer said yesterday.

“He has lots of gears and while he is a bit inexperienced over hurdles he is not inexperienced as a racehorse as he has run in five bumpers and twice on the flat. The couple of times he has been away to school he hasn’t put a foot wrong,” Mullins added.

“I know they will go fast and furious at Cheltenham and we are taking a bit of a chance but we have to take that chance.”

Ruby Walsh will team up with Blackstairmountain in the Supreme.

Mullins, however, does respect the challenge Dunguib presents to his horse and expects the odds-on favourite to jump better than he did at Leopardstown last month.

“They probably took a view with what they wanted to do the last day and while it helped settle him, it maybe didn’t help his jumping. But once he let him down I thought he jumped a lot better. And when they are going through the gears at Cheltenham it will help him,” he said.