Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
INDO MINE IS
Jack retains Festival ride on Gold Cup victor
JACK KENNEDY will retain the ride on Cheltenham Gold Cup victor Minella Indo when he contests the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup at Punchestown next Wednesday.
Kennedy came in for the ride at Cheltenham when Rachael Blackmore opted to ride runner-up A Plus Tard.
And Henry de Bromhead, who trains both geldings, confirmed yesterday Kennedy will be on board Minella Indo again.
De Bromhead’s Put The Kettle On, who created history by becoming the first mare to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase, will not be in action at Punchestown as she is set to face Altior and Nube Negra in the Grade 1 bet365 Celebration Chase at Sandown on Saturday – with regular partner Aidan Coleman on board.
And the trainer, whose Champion
Hurdle star Honeysuckle is also Punchestown-bound, has ruled both Notebook and Ballyadam out of the five-day Festival at the end of a long season.
Meanwhile, there’s no doubting the potential star on today’s eight-race card in Dundalk – Aidan O’brien’s (inset) 110-rated Investec Derby third Amhran Na Bhfiann in the concluding Crowne Plaza
Hotel Dundalk Maiden.
This Galileo colt hasn’t been seen since sustaining an injury when beaten (at
8/15) by Zawari in a Naas maiden last August.
But a reproduction of his Epsom third to stable-companion Serpentine, or his earlier fourth to subsequent Irish Derby and Melbourne Cup runner-up Tiger Moth in a hot Leopardstown maiden, would make Seamus Heffernan’s mount impossible to beat in this company.
The benefit of experience might give Johnny Murtagh’s Lord Gorgeous the edge over his five rivals in the opening two-year-old auction maiden.
The Bated Breath colt showed promise when third to the impressive Tenebrism on debut in Naas and with plenty of improvement expected, he should prove too strong for the newcomers – headed by Elzaam Tales, trained by Ger Lyons, whose Leadership Race should make short work of the opposition in the claimer.
And the ultra-consistent Sunset Nova, successful at this venue in January and February and a close third behind Alhaazm and Fastman in a competitive handicap over course and distance on Sunday, might avail of his opportunity, under top-weight, in the lower-grade seven-furlong Irishinjuredjockeys.com Handicap.