Meade hope in ‘terrific shape’ for National bid

MEADE has six possibilities for next Monday’s BoyleSports Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse but the progressive Tout Est Permis is the one he is most looking forward to.

Having skipped the Cheltenham Festival with Tout Est Permis, Meade is eyeing the €500,000 prize (for which he is a 16/1 chance) for the sixyear-old, unbeaten in his three starts for the Meath trainer this season.

“We have quite a few entered, but it would look at the moment like the only horse that is guaranteed a run is Tout Est Permis and it is the plan to run him,” Meade said.

“Hopefully there’ll be enough juice in the ground to let him run. He’s going into the unknown over threeand-a-half miles, but it looked to us like he did nothing much more than stay every time he’s run.

“He travelled well in the Troytown and won very well, but he’s gone up a good bit since. He’s in terrific shape and we’re very happy with him.”

Another six-year-old with leading claims is Paul Nolan’s Discorama (10/1) – a close second in the National Hunt Cup at last month’s Cheltenham Festival – but the trainer has warned that he may not take his chance if the ground hardens before then.

Ted Walsh’s Any Second Now (7/1) – an easy winner of the Kim Muir at the Festival – and Willie Mullins’ PairofNOEL browneyes (8/1), a faller when favourite in the race 12 months ago, vie for favouritism in the Fairyhouse feature.

Meanwhile, Jessica Harrington is hoping for a repeat with Supasundae as the Aintree Hurdle hero bids for back-to-back victories in next month’s Punchestown Champion Hurdle.

“Supasundae has come out of his race in Aintree really well, and the plan now is to go to Punchestown. He’s only entered in the Champion Hurdle, so I wouldn’t be tempted to run him over three miles,” she said.

Elsewhere, action on the level is the focus today where the three-day Craven meeting kicks off at Newmarket with Aidan O’Brien’s Western Australia the sole Irish representative at an intriguing meeting.

While unable to get his head in front in his last four runs, the son of Australia has some impressive placed form to his name – third in the Group One Futurity – and is expected to take all the beating under Ryan Moore in the Listed Feilden Stakes (3.0).