Slade Steel will try to win for the first time since landing the 2024 Supreme at Cheltenham when lining up for a Beginners Chase at Navan on Saturday.
Henry de Bromhead’s star looked to have the racing world at his feet after that Supreme performance, but hasn’t enjoyed the best fortune since.
A pair of runner-up places on his first two starts over fences was followed by almost a year off and then another second on his return to action last month.
He was then luckless at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve when brought down when travelling well four from home and now will have his stamina put to the test around Navan’s three miles.
READ MORE
Wingmen is Jack Kennedy’s pick of a Gordon Elliott trio while Willie Mullins also has three. They include Joystick, who didn’t cut much ice behind Kaid d’Authie last time out, but he shapes as one that may relish a slog on heavy ground.
Lazare De Star is likely to be a popular choice in Navan’s opener on the back of his maiden success at Leopardstown and given Gordon Elliott’s surprise that the performance earned him an apparently lenient handicap mark of 126.
Bon Viveur, also a maiden winner at Tramore, will again have Patrick Mullins on his back. The champion amateur is also on board The Irish Avatar in the bumper. He cost almost €230,000 after a single point-to-point performance last April.
Josh Williamson is on a newcomer, Thenavvybank, in that bumper and will team up with last year’s winner Willitgoahead in Sunday’s concluding Hunters Chase at Thurles.
The amateur jockey was successful in an appeal this week against an eight-day suspension imposed on him at Leopardstown over Christmas.
The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board confirmed on Friday that an appeals panel lifted the penalty on Williamson for his ride on Lemmy Caution, who finished third to Bentraghhill on Day Three of the festival. The race-day stewards found that the jockey had ridden carelessly.
Williamson argued to the panel, chaired by Mr Justice Tony Hunt, that he maintained a racing line at all times. He added that it was a slowly run race and this was a contributing factor as when the early front-runner began to go back through the field it left the horses in behind with nowhere to go and he felt this was the cause of the incident.
In contrast, jockey Gary Noonan failed to overturn a 12-day suspension for his dramatic winning ride on Dalmatic at Limerick over Christmas. The horse veered left on the run to the final flight in a handicap hurdle, but rallied to win narrowly. The Limerick stewards pointed to the “severe nature” of the incident when penalising Noonan and the panel forfeited his appeals deposit.
Sunday’s cross-channel feature, the Fitzdares Fleur De Lys Chase at Windsor, will see Protektorat try to repeat his 2025 success in the race. Part-owned by former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, the veteran is odds-on in some lists to land a prize worth £165,000 (€190,000).
