UN DE SCEAUX STANDS IN O’LEARY’S WAY . . . AGAIN!

RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary has seen 21 Festival winners carry the purple and white colours of his Gigginstown Stud operation, including the 2016 Gold Cup winner Don Cossack. But the race which has continued to elude him has been the two mile, five furlong Grade One chase he sponsors this afternoon. O’Leary has seen his colours carried into second place four times with Mossbank (2008), First Lieutenant (2013), Valseur Lido (2016) and Sub Lieutenant last year. The latest defeat was tinged with irony with the race being won by Un De Sceaux. O’Leary had to hand the winning trophy to Willie Mullins — the trainer he had removed 60 horses from at the start of the 2016-17 season in a dispute over training fees. Sub Lieutenant is back again this afternoon and he will be joined in the race by O’Leary’s Balko Des Flos, last seen when runner-up to Road To Respect in the Christmas Chase at Leopardstown on December 28. But standing in their way again is Mullins and Un De Sceaux. O’Leary said: ‘I’d love to win it. Un De Sceaux is going to be very hard to beat. We throw two bullets at it. It depends how much rain we get. If it gets too soft we might take Balko Des Flos out. ‘It is probably my destiny to remain forever second in the Ryanair Chase. ‘If I stopped sponsoring it I might have a better chance of winning it!’