MAC’S GOT HIS EYES ON OSCAR
DANNY McMENAMIN will return “all guns blazing” next weekend ahead of partnering “lively each-way chance” Tommy’s Oscar in the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
The champion conditional jockey was knocked unconscious in a fall at Musselburgh last Wednesday – but X-rays showed no broken bones.
“It wasn’t nice, but it could have been a lot worse. Thankfully, nothing was broken – it would have been devastating to have missed out,” said McMenamin, 21, who partners the seven-year-old, now the highest-rated hurdler in training, after winning his last four starts for the training partnership of Ann and Ian Hamilton.
He added: “There’s a mandatory seven days for concussion.
“I have to pass a concussion test and then, all being well, will be back all guns blazing at the end of next week.”
Tommy’s
Oscar has to lock horns with Henry de Bromhead’s unbeaten title-holder Honeysuckle and the Willie Mullinstrained Appreciate It, but McMenamin added: “I think he is a lively each-way chance.
“With the opposition upping every time, he has upped his game every time as well – and we’re hoping he can do that at Cheltenham.
“He’s up against the big guns but he has every right to be there.”
The Hamiltons, who have saddled just six individual runners from their Northumberland base this season, were on the mark as Nuts Well sprang an 18-1 surprise in Kelso’s Listed Premier Chase.
Cormier landed the bet365 Morebattle Hurdle at the Scottish Borders course and could now chase a £100,000 bonus at the Cheltenham Festival.