Punchestown NH Festival: Tony McCoy and JP McManus are formidable characters anyway but together they can spell disaster for the bookies on day one of the Punchestown Festival.
The championship-winning team look to have an excellent chance of landing the week's first Grade One event, the VC Bet Champion Novice Hurdle, with Straw Bear, and Fota Island may complete a top-level double for them in the €200,000 Kerrygold Champion Chase.
Just six line up for the two-mile feature and although the long-time Punchestown fixture Moscow Flyer is now enjoying retirement, it still looks an intriguing contest with the surprise Cheltenham hero Newmill looking to bring up a double even Moscow Flyer in his pomp couldn't manage.
Certainly the full focus of everyone's attention will finally bear down on Newmill if he pulls it off and that will be no more than he deserves according to his west Cork trainer John Murphy.
"The time he did at Cheltenham was seven seconds faster than standard and quicker than Moscow Flyer's two wins but he didn't get any credit for it because a few of the others were supposedly unlucky," Murphy said yesterday.
With Moscow Flyer on the slide and Kauto Star on the floor, it was understandable if Newmill's nine-length victory was slightly overlooked, especially since it was by some way the best performance of his career.
But there will be no surprise element today and significantly Fota Island is back for another crack at him. The McManus runner came up nine lengths short at Cheltenham but with good ground being forecast, conditions crucially look like coming up in Fota Island's favour. No doubt McCoy will watch Newmill like a hawk and maybe hope that Central House will take on the likely favourite from the start. If that results in a chink in the armoury, Fota Island looks well up to taking advantage.
Noel Meade throws three at the big novice hurdle, including Sweet Wake who was such a disappointment at Cheltenham. But it still looks a race for the cross-channel visitors with Nick Gifford's Straw Bear a worthy favourite. Cruelly run out of first in the Supreme at Cheltenham by Noland, Straw Bear looked a formidable operator when bouncing back to win impressively by 13 lengths at Liverpool.
"Cheltenham was the making of him and Tony said he was a different horse at Aintree," Gifford confirmed yesterday. "I have no more worries about inexperience - he's about the finished article."
Best of the Irish could be Sublimity who endured a nightmare passage during the Supreme but still managed to finish fourth under last week's Irish Grand National winning jockey Philip Carberry.
Another jockey unlucky at Cheltenham was Paddy Flood who enjoyed a fine SunAlliance ride on Back In Front until the horse stumbled and fell at the second last. Considering that was only Back In Front's second chase start it was a fine effort and he will be fancied to add the Ellier Novice Chase to his 2004 novice hurdle win here, especially since he gets 7lb from Missed That.
The latter's owner, Archie O'Leary, could have better luck in the following handicap hurdle now that Joueur d'Estruval has a half mile further to travel than when a good fifth to Wishwillow Lord at Fairyhouse a week ago.
The Shelbourne Hotel will sponsor the inaugural Goffs Million, Europe's richest two-year-old race, which will be run to coincide with the Ryder Cup at the Curragh on Tuesday, September 19th.
The seven-furlong event is restricted to horses catalogued at last September's Goffs Sale and is worth a total €1.6 million with €1 million for the winner.
