RACING:BOSTON'S ANGEL may be the proven Grade One winner over fences going into Sunday's Dr PJ Moriarty Novice Chase but Mikael D'Haguenet is rated favourite by bookmakers to restore his reputation in Leopardstown's €80,000 highlight.
Just seven entries have been left in the Moriarty and they include Willie Mullins’s top-rated novices, with Mikael D’Hauguent and Quel Esprit both described as likely starters this weekend. They are both generally available as general 14 to 1 odds for the RSA Chase at Cheltenham but despite being on a retrieval mission after flopping at Christmas, Mikael D’Haguenet has been installed as low as 5 to 4 favourite for Sunday’s race.
Quel Esprit hasn’t been seen since winning his sole start over fences to date at Limerick in November and will have to concede experience to the Fort Leney winner Boston’s Angel as well as Magnanimity, who beat Jessie’s Dream over the course and distance last month.
Magnanimity will probably be joined by his stable companion, Western Charmer, on Sunday and their trainer, Dessie Hughes, said: “I’ll probably have to run the two which is never ideal but it’s worth a lot of money. Magnanimity didn’t get much credit for winning last time but we thought he’d run well. Actually, before the race I didn’t think the trip would be far enough for him, but we got away with it.
“We’ll put him in the RSA and the four-miler at Cheltenham. I think the four-miler would be a nice race for him. Western Charmer is good and healthy this year so he should run well. The trip will probably suit him better as he has plenty of pace.”
Jessica Harrington will rely on Boston’s Angel in the Moriarty and will be double-handed in the Deloitte Novice Hurdle with the Grade One winner Oscars Well and The Bull Hayes.
The Royal Bond winner Zaidpour is favourite to restore his Cheltenham credentials in the two-and-a-quarter-mile event in which the JP McManus team will be represented by Shot From The Hip.
Oscars Well hasn’t been seen since winning at Navan in December and Harrington said yesterday: “The two and a quarter miles will probably be a little bit short but we want to get a run into him and this is the obvious place to go. He’s entered in the two-mile-five-furlong hurdle (Neptune) and the three-mile novice (Albert Bartlett) and he’ll probably go for one of those.
“It’s a big step up for The Bull Hayes but he won by 12 lengths last time and we seem to have him right now. He likes going left-handed, which is why we decided not to run at Punchestown.”
