Sly Empress can enhance reputation

Michael Hourigan's attempt to run Dorans Pride and others of his team at Haydock today has been foiled by the weather but that disappointment will be forgotten if Sly Empress and Honey Trader can run up to scratch at Cork tomorrow.

Sly Empress is on a remarkable run, with two victories at the Listowel festival, a follow-up at Galway and last time out a Fairyhouse defeat of Raunchy. It's a tribute to Hourigan's placing skills, but Sly Empress has also shown herself to be of above average ability and the hike up to three miles can highlight that even more.

However, the quality of opposition means that will have to be the case, with Frances Crowley running the highly-rated pair, Sackville and Native Titan, while the Noel Meade-trained Boley Lad is another on a streak.

Honey Trader was originally destined to be part of the Hourigan Haydock squad but the £12,000 Noel Ryan Memorial Handicap Chase looks an extremely attractive alternative. Run in memory of the much missed former chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Authority, the two-mile contest has attracted an ultra-competitive field but after going down by three-parts of a length to Native Charm at Newbury last time, Honey Trader should like the return to home soil and the minimum trip.

Arthur Moore and Conor O'Dwyer also look to have prospects of a double. Lyreen Wonder's seven-length second to Alexander Banquet gives him a clear chance in the beginners' chase but Fadoudal Du Cochet will probably have to fight a harder fight in the novice chase.

The JP McManus-owned Up For The Game was a distance winner of a Leopardstown bumper last month and qualifies for the "could be anything" tag but Fadoudal Du Cochet has jumped around Navan and also ran a decent race behind Go Roger Go at Fairyhouse last time. His experience could be decisive. Bob What earned an 86 rating on the flat during the summer and even a merely adequate round of jumping will make him hard to beat in the maiden hurdle while Beal Na Blath is still on the upgrade and is preferred to Tryphaena in the handicap hurdle.

The Irish Horseracing Authority have leased Tipperary racecourse to a local company for the next three years. The Limerick Junction Race Company Limited has 12 members under the chairmanship of the renowned breeder and owner Timmy Hyde and have signed a lease "for the day to day management of the racecourse."

A spokesman for the company reported yesterday that the company ultimately hope to have the three-year lease extended and have been given a first refusal offer by the IHA when the three years are finished.

Peter Roe, formerly the assistant at Fairyhouse, has already been appointed the course manager by the company and £250,000 from the IHA's Capital Development Fund will be allocated for the improvement of the track over the next three years.