LEOPARDSTOWN REPORT:IT MAY BE called Hennessy day – and Joncol collected the big pot – but ultimately it could prove that yesterday's Leopardstown action will be best remembered as a reference point for when "Dunguib fever" really got into overdrive.
Pumping the hype machine into top gear for mere novices has proved premature so many times in the past that one would think we would all have learned by now. But not too many were able, or indeed willing, to downplay Dunguib after his ridiculously easy success in yesterday’s Deloitte Hurdle.
Even veteran observers were left struggling for comparisons after jockey Brian O’Connell eased Philip Fenton’s young superstar to a sauntering defeat of Fionnegas that had almost every bookmaker making Dunguib an odds-on favourite for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.
That’s the race that Golden Cygnet sealed his legend in during a scarcely credible festival victory in 1978, just over a month before tragically sustaining fatal injuries in Ayr. His trainer, Edward O’Grady, watched yesterday and was quizzed about whether comparisons are apt.
“They are for the moment anyway. He’s a fantastic horse,” he admitted. “I suppose you could look at his jumping. Golden Cygnet was a good jumper, despite getting killed in a fall. But that’s being ultra-critical of this horse.”
Dunguib is now as short as 4 to 6 for the Supreme and the belief is that with better jumping, and on better ground, everything else in the race will be fighting for second – and a distant second at that. “The main priority today was to switch him off, and he did that,” said Fenton.
“Maybe he did it too well because maybe that’s the reason he didn’t jump so well. He was clumsy at a few. He didn’t jump with the same zest but he got the job done. He can’t jump like that at Cheltenham, but we’ll work on that,” he added.
In contrast, Cheltenham is only “50-50” for Joncol, and that would be for the Ryanair Chase rather than the Gold Cup, but the chaser’s neck defeat of Cooldine in yesterday’s €180,000 feature was succinctly summed up by trainer, Paul Nolan, as “his Gold Cup”.
If Denman and Kauto Star provide as good a finish next month it will be worth waiting for as Alain Cawley forced his 18hh partner past Cooldine in the final few strides to win by a neck, with Schindlers Hunt back in third.
“This was our target at the start of the season so the job is done,” said Nolan. “We could freshen him up and wait for Punchestown if the ground was safe there. But this is his big day. He would have to improve 20 lengths, maybe more, to compete with those Gold Cup horses and at the moment he isn’t good enough. But I hope he will improve.”
Willie Mullins is certainly anticipating improvement from Cooldine who will go straight for the Gold Cup after only just failing to make all yesterday. “It transpired as I thought it might. He just lacked a little match practise. It’s a feature of his career that he improves with each race,” he said.
Mullins did hit the Grade One scoresheet in the PJ Moriarty Chase, though not with the well-backed Cousin Vinny who struggled home fifth behind his 12 to 1 stable companion Citizen Vic.
“He is in the RSA but the Powers Gold Cup at Fairyhouse could suit him down to the ground,” said the champion trainer. “Cousin Vinny jumped too big and careful and a return to hurdles is definitely on the cards with him.”
The fourth Grade One on the card saw Pittoni cut to as low as 12 to 1 for the Triumph after a smooth success in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle.
Meanwhile, Tom Cooper is confident Forpadydeplasterer will return to the fray in the spring, after the eight-year-old suffered a recurrence of a niggling foot injury.
Although last season’s Arkle hero will miss the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Co Kerry handler expects the horse to have made a full recovery by the time of the Punchestown Festival in April.
“He will be fine as it’s not like a tendon problem,” said Cooper. “It’s a problem we’d have probably sorted out in the next 10 days, but that would have left us short of time,” he continued. “I really have to rule out Cheltenham, but we’ll look at Punchestown now.”
The figures
THE FRENCH came to the rescue at Leopardstown yesterday when a €350,000 boost to the Tote pool from PMU punters in France produced an unexpected new track record of €784,903. This was a massive increase on the 2009 Tote figure of €360,013.
The Irish Tote has been open to French punters for some races in Ireland since last year and yesterday’s four Grade One events got the benefit of that to the tune of €350,095.
Yesterday’s crowd of 11,672 was a 14 per cent increase on last year’s 10,024. Bookmaker turnover was down however from just over €1.5 million to €1,382,249.
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