Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
An El of a team for Troytown
GORDON ELLIOTT, who has won five of the last eight renewals of the Bar One Racing Troytown Handicap Chase, is responsible for eight of the 23 acceptors for Sunday’s €100,000 showpiece in Navan.
His Farclas is set to share top-weight with Jessica Harrington’s Lifetime Ambition in a raiding party which will feature Frontal Assault, runner-up in the Boylesports Irish Grand National last Easter and successful on his seasonal bow at Galway early last month.
Two recent ‘national’ winners are on course for Sunday’s feature, Joseph O’brien’s Guinness Kerry National scorer Busselton, who holds an alternative engagement in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday, and the Peter Fahey-trained The Big Dog, successful in the Ladbrokes Munster National last month.
Probably the most notable entry for the weekend’s action is the Willie Mullins-trained Facile Vega, unbeaten in four bumpers and widelyregarded as the most exciting hurdling recruit this season.
Facile Vega is entered for the two-mile Proficient Engineering Maiden Hurdle at Gowran Park on Saturday.
ZTHE Ger Lyons-trained Hale Bopp should prove tough beat in the On
Twitter @Dundalksatdium Claiming Race which opens this afternoon’s polytrack action in Dundalk.
He’s a three-time winner, including a maiden at this venue as a juvenile, boasts a rating of 84 and is taking a significant drop in class.
Successful at Naas back in May, off a mark of 85, Hale Bopp has struggled in more recent handicap assignments, finishing eight to Giladah in Cork and, last time, ninth (beaten over six lengths) behind Howyoulikethat over this course and distance.
But that last effort was in a 0-100 handicap and Collin Keane’s mount is entering calmer waters here.