BLIND FAITH! Bishopscourt can hit the right note
(below)
IT might not be everyone’s favourite race of the week at Punchestown but to me the opening Bishopscourt Cup is one of the most important.
Punchestown has a long and proud history stretching back to the 1800s and this race has huge history attached to it as it’s restricted to horses owned by farmers in the Kildare Hunt club region.
It’s a throwback to the old days and it’s great that Punchestown are keeping on the tradition.
You won’t find Galopin Des Champs or State Man in here but it does afford the chance for small operations to taste success and it’s always an entertaining race.
I won it 22 years ago on a horse trained by Tony Martin and it’s a win I’ll never forget as it came in famous colours, the same ones worn by Nijinsky, one of the most famous flat horses of all time and a Triple Crown winner in the early 1970s.
It’s interesting to see those same colours carried today by Keenaghan Lass but the one I fancy the most today is THE BLIND PIPER (3.40).
He was pretty prolific in point-topoints and was having his first run for nearly two years here in February at a point-to-point meeting.
That run wouldn’t inspire confidence but Finny Maguire is a very interesting jockey booking and I can see him running a big race here.
The main action kicks off with a very valuable handicap chase worth
€100,000.
Willie Mullins’ top two Mister Policeman and Tactical Move will likely be first and second favourite but I like the chances of ARCTIC BRESIL (4.15).
Henry De Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore had a winner here on Wednesday in a handicap chase and their horses are running well.
This seven-year-old looks well treated against Mister Policeman having finished second to him in February and now gets over a stone off the top weight.
Chase
He didn’t run too badly in the Plate at Cheltenham and I’d imagine better ground will suit too.
In the Glencarraig Lady Francis Flood Mares Chase I’m siding with BRIDES HILL (4.50).
She’s a good mare and I just wouldn’t trust Allegorie De Vassy at short odds as she has a habit of throwing in a poor run every now and then.
Brides HIll won a handicap off 140 at Fairyhouse before Christmas and that’s a decent level of form to bring into a mares race like this.
ITS ON THE LINE (5.25) is probably the best Hunter Chaser in training at the moment and it’s hard to see anything beating him in the Champion contest.
He was very good at Aintree and won this race 12 months ago so it all points in his direction.
JP McManus bought him this year and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him pitch up in something like the Irish Grand National next season.
The Champion Hurdle is a one horse race really but it will be good for the Punchestown crowd to see our Champion Hurdle winner STATE MAN (6.00) in action.
Irish Point is a very good horse in his own right but he couldn’t lay a glove on State Man at Cheltenham and it’s hard to see how he can turnaround that form unless the favourite puts in a below par performance.
That seems very unlikely as he’s won 12 out of his last 13 races and the only time he was beaten was by Constitution HIll.
The same comment applies to BALLYBURN (6.25) in the Champion Novices’ Hurdle.
Indeed we might see these two meet next season but I have a feeling that Ballyburn could go the Arkle route as his owner Ronnie Bartlett is more of a chasing man. But we’ll see.
He was sensational at Cheltenham and Leopardstown and looks a horse of huge ability.
The winners of one race can also go to Willie with ANOTHERWAY (7.05), who wouldn’t be qualified for this if he hadn’t have fallen at Fairyhouse in a Grade 2 when looking all over the winner.