Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CONTI TO END WAIT
UCELLO CAN HALT 11-RUN LOSING STREAK & GIVE ELLIOTT A FIRST THYESTES
UCELLO CONTI should make a bold bid to give Gordon Elliott a first victory in the €100,000 Goffs Thyestes Chase in Gowran Park.
The traditional January showpiece is one of the few top handicap chases to have eluded the all-conquering Elliott yard. But the Meath man saddles six of the 15 runners today, with Ucello Conti and Out Sam his main contenders.
Heavy ground and the omission of the fourth last fence will make the Thyestes a severe test. But Ucello Conti won’t be inconvenienced and ticks a lot of the right boxes. And he has excellent prospects of giving Elliott his first Thyestes win and providing Liam Mckenna, claiming a valuable 7lb a big-race breakthrough.
Remarkably, Ucello Conti has failed to win in 11 starts since joining Elliott. But he has performed with great credit in some of our top handicap chases and deserves to land a big pot.
He’s bidding to make it third time lucky in the Thyestes, having finish third to My Murphy in 2016 and runner-up behind Champagne West last year.
And he has also filled the runner-up berth twice, in the Paddy Power at Leopardstown, beaten by
Minella Foru in 2015 and, in his most recent start, beaten seven lengths by Anibale Fly on his seasonal debut four weeks ago.
With young Mckenna’s claim reducing his burden to 10-6, Ucello Conti looks sure to be in the shake-up and, hopefully earn a well-deserved victory.
Elliott has booked English teenage sensation James Bower to partner Out Sam, tenth in the Paddy Power on his stable debut and capable of improvement.
Top-weight Champagne West, an impressive, all-theway winner last year, has run dismally in his two outings this season and needs to bounce back, in first-time cheekpieces, to join the illustrious group of dual-winners. Gigginstown has four runners, including A Genie In Abottle, off the track since finishing unplaced behind Total Recall in the Ladbrokes Trophy, and novices Woods Well and Monbeg Notorious.
And Willie Mullins, a six-time winner of the race, relies on Pleasant Company and Isleofhopendreams.
But Sumos Novios, representing Liam Burke and Robbie Power, inset, successful with My Murphy two years ago, might provide the chief danger to Ucello Conti in Sumos Novios, runner-up to De Benno at Fairyhouse last time but better suited by today’s trip.