Angel will appreciate nicer ground

IRISH RAIDER Bostons Angel bids to give weight and a beating to four talented rivals in the Sportingbet Future Stars Chase at Sandown today.

Jessica Harrington’s seven-year-old completed a hat-trick of Grade One novice wins when landing the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

He was still travelling powerfully on his seasonal return at Down Royal when unseating Robbie Power and Harrington is hoping to get him back on track tomorrow. “It’s a tidy little race with a few of them having had problems of some sort on their last runs,” said Harrington.

“We’ve got to give them weight and they are all good horses, but I suppose we’re a three-time Grade One winner and you would expect that.

“He was still going well at Down Royal when he made the mistake and I do think he’ll appreciate the bit of nicer ground he’ll get tomorrow.

“Some people might have had him down as a mudlark last season, but he showed he wasn’t when winning at Cheltenham.”

The highest rated horse in the line-up is last season’s Racing Post Chase winner Quinz, but he has since suffered a broken blood vessel in the Grand National and was pulled up on his recent comeback at Ascot.

Tony McCoy stole the show on Leicester’s all-hurdle card yesterday with a near 29 to 1 four-timer from five rides to take his tally for the campaign to 155.

Two of his winners, Schism and Amuse Me, were for his main patron, Jonjo O’Neill, while Nicky Henderson’s Zama Zama and Phoenix Flight from the James Evans stable provided the rest of the ammunition.