Morris hopeful if festival ground good

RACING NEWS ROUND-UP:THE 2006 Champion Hurdle winner Brave Inca thrust himself back into the Cheltenham picture at the weekend and "Mouse" Morris believes his 2006 Gold Cup hero War Of Attrition will be no festival back-number either.

War Of Attrition is currently a general 25 to 1 shot for the Gold Cup in March, the shortest priced of the Irish entries, and although well beaten by Exotic Dancer in the Lexus Chase at Christmas, Morris hasn’t given up hope of a dream return to Cheltenham in six weeks’ time.

“The ground will be the big thing with him. If it turns up good I wouldn’t tear up the docket just yet. But if it’s soft, we’re up a creek without a paddle!” the Co Tipperary-based trainer said yesterday.

Brave Inca’s victory in Sunday’s Toshiba Irish Champion Hurdle was described as “nice to see” by Morris whose own stable star contributed in style to a remarkable championship race clean-sweep for Ireland at Cheltenham three years ago.

War Of Attrition was also beaten in the Lexus before landing the blue riband in 2006 and Morris is intent on following the pattern then of not running again before the festival. “He will absolutely not run before Cheltenham. We are sticking to Plan A. He isn’t even entered in the Hennessy (February 8th).

“But everything is good with him so far and we’re on track,” Morris said before excusing that 20-length Lexus defeat to Exotic Dancer was due to the going. “He was adequate that day. He might have lacked a little spark but for him, on that ground, it was adequate. Calling a spade a spade though he’d want to improve,” he said.

Morris believes the Michael O’Leary-owned star remains as good as ever but admitted: “Will that be good enough – I don’t know. Denman and Kauto Star are very good but after them they look much of a muchness.”

No horse has ever regained the Cheltenham Gold Cup crown over the years but, like Brave Inca, War Of Attrition is on course to try to defy such statistics.

War Of Attrition’s bulletin is more positive than that of another famous veteran as the former dual-Champion Hurdle winner Hardy Eustace has had his plans put on the back-burner after a lack-lustre effort in Sunday’s Irish Champion Hurdle.

Trainer Dessie Hughes said there are currently no plans for the horse and said: “He ran below himself. I thought he moved well enough in the early stages so you couldn’t say it was the ground. There’s some little thing not right with the horse.”

Sublimity also disappointed on Sunday behind Brave Inca but scoped badly afterwards and is now on antibiotics for the next three to four days. Trainer Robbie Hennessy reported yesterday: “He didn’t jump great but that was mainly down to the ground and it was exactly the same in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham as he couldn’t get out of the ground.

“He’s fine this morning and if he gets his ground at Cheltenham, you couldn’t discard him. We won’t be writing him off just yet, that’s for sure.”

However, there was nothing but good news from the Brave Inca team yesterday after his Leopardstown heroics on Sunday and Colm Murphy said: “He has come out real well. He has a couple of choices but I suppose the Champion Hurdle would be the most obvious place to go and we’ll hope for a bit of rain. He is probably better on better ground himself but testing going inconveniences others more than they do him.”

The Co Dublin trainer Oliver McKiernan had an expensive time at the Turf Club yesterday when he was ordered to pay €1,000 towards the governing body’s costs after an unsuccessful appeal.

McKiernan, a St Stephen’s Day Grade One winner with Follow The Plan this season, appealed the decision of the Leopardstown stewards not to promote his horse Whatuthink ahead of the winner Catch Me in the Woodies Christmas Hurdle on day three of last month’s festival.

Catch Me appeared to cross Whatuthink on the run in of the Grade Two race. Yesterday evidence was heard from McKiernan, Whatuthink’s jockey John Cullen, as well as Catch Me’s trainer and jockey, Edward O’Grady and Andrew McNamara, in a three hour hearing. At the end of it, McKiernan had his appeal dismissed, had his deposit forfeited and was ordered to pay €1,000 towards the Turf Club’s costs.