The authorities at Leopardstown insist they are "quite confident" about tomorrow's hugely prestigious Hennessy Gold Cup meeting going ahead but nevertheless an 8am inspection will be held this morning to assess the impact of yesterday's snowfall on the track. Brian O'Connorreports.
Over half a million is scheduled to be up for grabs, including the €180,000 Hennessy pot, in an afternoon that contains probably the most important series of Cheltenham festival trials in the whole Irish season.
But although hopes remain high that no interruption will take place, the going at the Dublin track is now officially "heavy" compared to the "yielding" surface that prevailed on Wednesday.
"We had 19mms of rain here overnight and we were congratulating ourselves at having missed the snow when we had an hour and a half of pretty intense snow in the morning," reported Leopardstown's manager Tom Burke yesterday.
"There's a light covering on the course at the moment but it is due to melt away later in the afternoon so we will hold a precautionary inspection in the morning to assess the impact of that melting snow on the ground.
"The forecast is actually pretty alright with some frost at night but not as bad as we've had, and some rain on Friday night, but not as bad in Dublin as in some other areas. With that forecast, I would be quite confident of going ahead," he added.
If Leopardstown does get the green light, then testing conditions will be ideal for The Listener who has already travelled from Robert Alner's Dorset yard in an attempt to follow up his course and distance success in the Lexus over Christmas.
However, the sole English- trained possible for the Grade One Deloitte Novice Hurdle, De Soto, will not now take up his entry and will also miss out some home options to instead go direct for the Anglo Irish Bank Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham.
"He is entered in Ireland but it wouldn't be easy to get there the way the weather is and it would probably be just as soft anyway," said De Soto's trainer Paul Webber.
In other news, Brave Inca's trainer Colm Murphy said yesterday that he will delay making a decision on riding arrangements for the Champion Hurdler at Cheltenham until as late as possible.
Brave Inca's usual rider Tony McCoy may yet be claimed by his boss, JP McManus, to ride Straw Bear in the Champion while Ruby Walsh, successful on the horse at Christmas, may well be needed by Paul Nicholls for Noble Request.
Barry Geraghty, who rode Brave Inca into third on his first start of the season in the Morgiana, is committed to last year's Champion runner-up Macs Joy which may yet leave Murphy having to select a completely new jockey for his stable star.
However, the Co Wexford trainer was adamant yesterday that it is far too soon to be engaging in jockey arrangements for Cheltenham.
"I've not done an absolute thing about it and I'm not going to either until closer to the day. A lot of water has to go under the bridge yet before Cheltenham," Murphy said.
"The three lads that have ridden him this season - Tony, Ruby and Barry - are all taken at the moment but we will wait and see.
"Anything could happen. People should remember what happened with Lingo last year," he added.
The trainer gave an upbeat report on Brave Inca's progress since being beaten by Hardy Eustace in the AIG Irish Champion Hurdle last month and said the horse appears to be "one hundred per cent again".
Murphy explained: "After the AIG, a lot of things go through your head about why he was beaten. The way Iktitaf ran in his next race, and Silent Oscar in the Pierse, I wondered if they all had a harder race than we thought at Christmas. But he is 100 per cent now and he is ready for us to get stuck into him again next week."
A total of six Irish-trained horses are among the 21 declared for tomorrow's Totesport Trophy at Newbury for which the ante-post favourite Acambo tops the weights.
Willie Mullins runs the Pierse runner Mister Hight as well as Quatre Heures and a Totesport spokesman noted jockey arrangements by saying: "Ruby Walsh has chosen Quatre Heures over the other horse so we have cut him from 12 to 1 to 11 to 1."
Other Irish hopes include Victram and New Field who will represent Tom Mullins's stable.
Yesterday afternoon's scheduled meeting at Clonmel was abandoned due to waterlogging.
Cold spell hits hard
Today's action at Kempton and Wolverhampton hinges on morning inspections as the current cold spell continues to bite.
Bangor have already called off today's meeting, while Kempton will check at 7.30am, despite covering the track.
Kempton clerk of the course Brian Clifford said yesterday: "We covered the entire course on Wednesday to protect from the frost that was forecast before the snow.
"It is perfectly raceable under the covers but we have about two inches of snow on top of them at the moment.
"The forecast is for a frost tonight and we will obviously need to get the snow off the covers, but at least they will give us a chance."
Wolverhampton clerk of the course Fergus Cameron will also take a precautionary look at 6.30am as snow is currently lying on the all-weather track.
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