Horse of the Day
HORSE: Corbetts Cross
RACE: Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle TRAINER: emmet Mullins
JOCKEY: Mark Walsh
WHY SHOULD WE WATCH?
THIS championship race for novices with bags of stamina is always dramatic and informative: Bobs Worth (2011) and Minella indo (2019) are two former winners who graduated to land the Gold Cup. Corbetts Cross, the likely favourite today, is a fascinating contender for this renewal and brings the promise of untapped potential — the kind of horse, if things go right, who could easily develop into a household name.
WHAT HAS HE ACHIEVED SO FAR?
He doesn’t have a c.v. that glitters. There have been four wins from seven relatively low-key starts but it is the manner of his last two victories — a handicap at Fairyhouse in January and a Grade Two race at Naas last month — that has enhanced his profile. emmet Mullins, his Grand National winning trainer, is one of the shrewdest operators around and it is significant that JP McManus, the sport’s leading owner, has bought him since his most recent run 19 days ago. it could be a big 40 minutes for the partnership as they also have Filey Bay, who is favourite for the County Hurdle.
WHAT DO THEY SAY ABOUT HIM?
McMANUS is someone who keeps his thoughts to himself and Mullins, equally, wouldn’t be in a hurry to shout about a horse’s ability from the rooftops. But it felt significant in a preview programme that aired on a racing channel earlier this week to hear Ruby Walsh waxing lyrical. ‘He is a Gold Cup horse in the making — to win a handicap over three miles and come back to two miles to win a graded race shows you his ability,’ the legendary former jockey enthused. ‘All they will be thinking about is that it’s 19 days since his last run.’
CAN HE BE STOPPED?
DANGERS lurk everywhere. Three Card Brag is well regarded by trainer Gordon elliott, embassy Gardens, trained by Mullins’s allconquering uncle Willie, is another good animal, while Harry Cobden cannot wait to ride Stay Away Fay for boss Paul Nicholls. if Corbetts Cross (left) can see them off, he really will be on the way to the top.