Casey chases pot of gold for Meade
Riverside Theatre ridden by Barry Geraghty (No 3, right) jumps the water fence in third place the first time around the course before going on to land the Rooney/Hall Beginners' Chase during the The Winter Festival at Newbury yesterday
Friday November 27 2009
Tranquil Sea broke the Irish hoodoo in the Paddy Power Gold Cup two weeks ago and Noel Meade's Casey Jones is out to do the same in the Hennessy Gold Cup tomorrow.
Be My Royal passed the post first for Willie Mullins in 2002, but subsequently lost the race after testing positive for a banned substance.
Michael O'Brien's Bright Highway, which was also the last Irish-trained winner of the Paddy Power before Tranquil Sea, was the most recent Hennessy victor from these shores in 1980.
Grade One-winning novice Casey Jones will bid to break that barren spell and arrives on the back of a fourth in the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal.
"He had a long trip over, but he travelled well and he's in good shape, I think," said Meade. "The course and distance could suit us, but the one thing that could be against us is if the ground got really heavy. He ran well in Down Royal, but got lost in the heavy ground down the back and got left on his own a bit.
"I thought he was going to be second turning in but he got a bit tired in the straight. That run will have brought him on.
competitive
"I certainly hope he'll run a big race, but it's a very competitive race. We are lucky that Noel Fehily is able to ride him.
"He was supposed to be riding something else (Roll Along) until declaration time."
Denman heads a field of 21 for the prestigious race, but he will be racing off a mark 13lb higher than when he won two years ago. However, the Paul Nicholls-trained gelding remains favourite.
"Despite being asked to carry far more weight than when he won the race in 2007, and falling on his last start at Aintree, it looks likely that Denman will be a shorter price on Saturday than he was two years ago, proving how highly both punters and bookmakers rate this horse," said Coral's David Stevens yesterday.
There will be a total of five Irish contenders in the Newbury showpiece.
Apart from Casey Jones, Niall 'Slippers' Madden will be aboard Mouse Morris' former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition, David Casey has the leg-up on Charlie Swan's Offshore Account, Andrew Lynch rides the Tom Mullins-trained Chelsea Harbour and Paul Townend is handed the reins of Snowy Morning for the Willie Mullins' team.
Meade, meanwhile, has still to finalise his plans for Sunday's Bar One Racing Drinmore Novices' Chase at Fairyhouse.
Meade has a strong squad of novice chasers and Oscar Looby is likely to run, but whether Grade One-winning hurdlers Jered and Pandorama take their chances is still up in the air.
"At the moment I'm not quite sure which one will run in the Drinmore, it might even be a few," said Meade.
"I'm leaning towards Pandorama, but it's right-handed and he did go left the last day so we would have liked to run him somewhere left first.
"I don't think it's a problem. We've schooled him since and he's schooled perfectly straight. There is every possibility he might run in the Drinmore because I think it is the right race to run him in."
On a busy weekend for the Meath trainer, his Go Native is reported to be in tip-top shape as he bids to win the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle tomorrow for the third time in six years.
Meade -- likely to rely on Aitmatov in Sunday's Hatton's Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse -- landed the Newcastle contest in 2004 and 2007 with Harchibald and believes this year's Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner can put up a good show.
"Go Native has arrived and runs. Davy Condon rides him. He's in tremendous form," he said. "I hope if the ground is good he can give a good account of himself."
A field of seven is headed by this year's Champion Hurdle third Binocular, which will be making his seasonal debut.
back-to-back
The five-year-old, owned by JP McManus, will bid to give trainer Nicky Henderson back-to-back victories following the success of Punjabi 12 months ago.
Go Native is one of five Irish raiders led by Charles Byrnes' Solwhit, along with the 2007 Champion Hurdle victor Sublimity, trained by Robbie Hennessy, John Queally's Al Eile and Sabrina Harty's Won In The Dark.
Hennessy Gold Cup betting: 7/2 Denman, 6/1 What A Friend, Barbers Shop, 8/1 Killyglen, 9/1 Cappa Bleu, 14/1 Gone To Lunch, State Of Play, 16/1 Casey Jones, 20/1 Ballyfitz, My Will, 25/1 bar.
- Thomas Kelly
Irish Independent
