ELL OF A DECISION
GORDON ELLIOTT will walk the track at Leopardstown today before committing Delta Work to Sunday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup.
The seven-year-old heads the sponsor’s betting along with Kemboy at 13-8 after his victory in the Savills Chase at the Foxrock venue over Christmas.
But Road To Respect, owned like Delta Work by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, sustained a season-ending injury in finishing third in the same race, triggering the threat of a Gigginstown Stud boycott of Dublin Racing Festival’s top-level chases.
“I’m going to go up to Leopardstown later on and walk the track in the morning,” Elliott said yesterday.
“Delta Work isn’t a horse that shows much at home but he does it on the track and he’s in good form.”
O’Leary’s brother and racing manager Eddie added: “Gordon trains the horse and, if he’s happy with the ground, that’s grand. They said last February that it was good, good to soft in places, when good to firm, firm in places.
“There is no more rain forecast between now and Saturday and I assume they’ve done a good job.”
Mark Walsh will stand in for the injured Richard Johnson aboard La Bague Au Roi in the Irish Gold Cup.
The champion jockey rode the Warren Greatrex-trained mare to lift the Flogas Novice Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival last February, but is sidelined with a broken arm.
“After speaking to the owners, we decided to go with an Irish-based jockey who knows the track at Leopardstown really well and we’ve decided Mark Walsh is the man for the job,” said Greatrex.
“She is in great form at home – I couldn’t be any happier with her.
“Hopefully we will see a big run from her.”
SIZING JOHN, winner of the 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup, has met with a fresh setback and will miss the Irish Gold Cup and the rest of the campaign. it was
JIMMYJAMES (4.20, nap) showed much improved form at Chepstow last time out and is fancied to get his head in front today at Ffos Las.
His fourth to Kingston Mimosa was better than anything he has produced before, suggesting he has benefited from a move to
Tim Vaughan’s.
The kindly handicapper has even dropped him 2lb so he will not get a better chance of breaking his duck than today’s fairly low-grade chase.
KATESON (2.45) is fancied to win his first chase at the Welsh track. He is the highest rated of the six runners although there is not much between them, with Present Value standing out as a danger.
Paul Nicholls (below) is the man to follow at Wincanton, a track where he has a 33% strike rate.
His ANNA CILLA (1.10) took a few runs for the penny to drop. But she outstayed her rivals at Warwick last time and can do so again. Nicholls’ useful DANSE IDOL (2.45) should appreciate the drop in trip and a bit of relief from the handicapper, while the scopey WORTHY FARM (2.20) should follow up a recent win at the track.