Age just a number as McNally star seeks record

IT’S been a remarkable season for Ronan McNally with victory in the Troytown Chase among nine Irish jumps winners already on the board, but the small Armagh trainer bids to create history at Fairyhouse today.

See Double You already holds a special place in McNally’s heart, but the stable favourite could write his place further into the record books should he land the Fairyhouse Committee Handicap Hurdle (3.0) at the age of 18.

See Double You became the oldest horse to win at an Irish track since 1987 when prevailing at Roscommon in July of 2019 aged 16, but this would cement his legacy and McNally (right) is expecting g a bold bid despite a string of f poor displays.

“He’s phenomenal. He’d d a real good run at Tramore, e, he just got caught a wee bit far back and he finished really eally strong and the last day (at Navan) it just didn’t fall right. It was a big-runner field and he got caught out the back, which doesn’t suit him,” McNally said yesterday.

“There’sT definitely a wee race i in him, but if he did happen to run bad, I’d maybe pull the ppin so we’ll just see how it ggoes. He’s working great, he eeats well, he’s sound as a bell. He’sHe in great form and there’s no realre reason to tell me that he can’t run well.

“He’s really enjoying life, so we’ll keep him going for now for the craic. If he did win at 18, I think he would break the record for winning on the track in Ireland so it would be amazing for him to have that title. He’s part of the family at this stage.”

McNally, who only has “four or five” in training, had also hoped that Dreal Deal would chase his sixth successive victory in the Fairyhouse Racing From Home Webpage Hurdle (1.20), but a “stone bruise” put paid to that.

Since landing a handicap hurdle in Navan off 84 last September, Dreal Deal is now rated 141 and McNally is eyeing a host of other potential targets.

“We weren’t 100pc happy with him this morning. The farrier spent a bit of time with him, so it’s just a matter of pulling the pin and regrouping. There’s no point rushing him into battle if he’s not 100pc,” he said.

“He’s too good to be rushing if he’s not right, so we’ll just give him a few days off. He has another option too because he’s in the Grade Two Moscow Flyer on Sunday at Punchestown.

“If his foot improves over the next day or two, that’s still an option. If he doesn’t run at the weekend, we might wait on for the Dublin Racing Festival. There’s a couple of Grade One novices and a couple of handicaps there, he has a lot of options.”