The trainers of quite a few prime Irish hopes for the Cheltenham festival will be hoping that the Leopardstown track passes an inspection this morning which will allow them gallop their horses in Sunday's traditional post-race work-out. Brian O'Connor reports.
The gallops session has in the past provided the final festival warm up for such stars as Florida Pearl, Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca but this time there is a considerable danger that it will not happen.
An afternoon inspection yesterday into the effects of melting snow on the track resulted in the calling of another inspection for this morning. However, the famously well-drained Co Dublin course was not raceable yesterday.
"It's very hard to say what our chances are. We haven't had a situation like this for a very long time. But there is a tremendous amount of water thawing out and it's now a question of how quickly it can get away," said Leopardstown's racing manager Tom Burke yesterday.
Burke, however, did guarantee that if racing does go ahead then the busy post-race activity will also proceed despite the large number of horses likely to travel to the track.
"We will leave it up to the trainers themselves if they want to gallop on ground that is pretty heavy. It is our last National Hunt meeting of the season anyway so there is no great pressure on us ground-wise.
"We had snow here on Wednesday morning and we thought that would be the last of it. But then we got more in the evening on top of what had already melted so we have been concerned," he added.
Willie Mullins traditionally brings his main Cheltenham hopes to Leopardstown and if racing gets the green light he will bring some of his six-strong likely squad for the festival.
Mullins has the trio of Our Ben, Mr Babbage and Homer Wells to divide up between the SunAlliance Hurdle and the newly installed three mile Britannia Insurance Hurdle while Livingstonebramble may go for another contest, the Jewson Handicap Chase.
However, his main hopes look to lie with Missed That, who is a 7 to 1 favourite with Cashmans for the Bumper, and Rule Supreme who remains high in the betting for both the World Hurdle and the Gold Cup. Both horses are possible travellers to Leopardstown at the weekend.
"Rule Supreme is a possible. He did a bit of work this morning and looks in good form. Missed That could go too but I will decide on Saturday," said Mullins yesterday.
Charlie Swan is another trainer who has used the chance to get a racecourse gallop into his Cheltenham hopes and he is likely to bring Ground Ball to Leopardstown - if getting the chance.
"I'm looking at having only two runners, Ground Ball in the Grand Annual and Oh Be The Hokey in the Kim Muir. I was thinking of giving Ground Ball a school and I need to get him away," said Swan.
Le Coudray, who hasn't run since falling in last year's Aintree National, is set to have a warm up for this season's Aintree spectacular if Leopardstown does get the green light. The JP McManus team have confirmed the Mick Holly Chase is a likely start for the former Hennessy runner-up.
In other news yesterday, the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, appointed two new members to the board of Horse Racing Ireland.
The Limerick solicitor John Power has been nominated by the owners association and replaces Peter McCarthy and the Galway manager John Moloney replaces the INHSC representative Roy Craigie. The stablestaff spokesman Dan Kirwan has also been appointed for a second term. "John Power and John Moloney bring a wealth of knowledge and experience which will prove invaluable in helping to implement our Strategic Plan," said the HRI chairman Denis Brosnan.
