RACING:GORDON ELLIOTT faces a busy holiday period on both sides of the Irish Sea but the Co Meath trainer can get a pre-Christmas Grade One boost at Navan tomorrow with Mount Benbulben.
Just four line up for the €70,000 Navan Novice Hurdle which continues a recent trend of low turnouts for some of this country’s big-money prestige events.
Significantly though it is four of the most powerful yards in Ireland that are represented tomorrow although the Mullins, Meade and Harrington teams look set for an uphill struggle against Mount Benbulben.
Paul Carberry is back on board the Barry Connell-owned six-year- old who impressed with a course and distance defeat of Rebel Fitz in last month’s Grade Two Monksfield Hurdle when ridden by Davy Condon.
Elliott is already talking about an eventual tilt at the three-mile Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham and believes very testing conditions will be no trouble to his horse.
“It’s going to be a real slog but this horse stays very well,” reported the handler who plans to pitch Chicago Grey into the Welsh National on Tuesday week and has a big team preparing for domestic duty too.
Boston Bob carries the colours of top English owner Graham Wylie and won well on his first Irish start. But he, nor Jetson or Ipsos Bu Berlais, have the proven form of Mount Benbulben who can kick off a good day for Elliott and the Carberry clan.
Nina Carberry is on Don Cossack in the Grade Two Bumper and the Gigginstown-owned son of the German-based ex-Ballydoyle- trained Sholokhov made quite an impression when scooting up at Naas in October.
He takes on a field of winners in tomorrow’s race but Elliott has made no secret of the regard in which he holds Don Cossack.
Unusually for racing in Ireland the two feature events are at the front of the card with the four-runner Tara Hurdle kicking things off at 12.35.
The veteran Powerstation bounced back to winning form in handicap company on his previous start and faces a trio of relative youngsters on his return to Grade Two class.
Prima Vista comes out ahead strictly on ratings but has yet to run this season so it may be worth betting that an increase in trip can work the trick with Zaidpour.
Cadogan ran into a good one in Raptor on his last start at Punchestown when starting a 20 to 1 outsider.
No such fancy odds will be available for tomorrow’s two-and-a-half mile Beginners Chase but Jim Dreaper’s charge should be hard to beat if reproducing that sort of effort.
The former Coral Cup winner Ninetieth Minute returns to action in the other Beginners Chase and with Tom Taaffe’s string returning to form in recent months, the former high-class hurdler can come out on top.
Down Under is 9lb higher in the ratings for winning over the course on his last start but JP McManus’s horse is still at the right end of the weights for the handicap hurdle.
