Irish interest in top-flight racing will span the globe this Sunday, with Dylan Thomas continuing to impress in his preparation for Hong Kong's international meeting and Punchestown gearing up for the John Durkan Chase fixture where last season's champion festival two-mile winner, Mansony, is on the verge of a first start in eight months.
Arthur Moore confirmed yesterday he will take the wraps off Mansony at the track where he enjoyed his finest hour in last April's Kerrygold Champion Chase rather than travel to England for Saturday's Tingle Creek.
That race is over two miles which Moore regards as being Mansony's best distance, while the Durkan is over two and a half. However, the Naas trainer is happy to remain at home at this stage of the season.
"Sandown was an option only if there was a problem with Sunday which doesn't look like happening. I'm very happy with the horse but obviously I would like to have got a run into him beforehand, especially for a race over two and a half miles," Moore, twice a Durkan winner with Native Upmanship, said yesterday.
"Ideally I think the horse likes a fast two miles so it's not ideal, especially on testing ground. But what's one supposed to do? We have to start off somewhere, and he did win over two and a half there over hurdles. A race like the Dial-A-Bet at Leopardstown during Christmas is something we might look at afterwards," he added.
Despite Mansony's lengthy absence, he has been installed a 9 to 2 second favourite for the Durkan behind Paddy Power's 6 to 4 favourite The Listener whose Wexford-born jockey Daryl Jacob was in confident form yesterday. "Two and a half won't be a problem as he's got a bit of pace. We all know he's a good horse on soft ground and I think he's a worthy favourite," Jacob said. "We got the tactics wrong the last day when he got rid of me. He was just a little bit too fresh."
The improvement in going that Moore would like doesn't appear set to happen with the ground at Punchestown continuing to be described as "soft to heavy". However, the track authorities are confident the Durkan meeting is not in danger.
"We had 5mms of rain overnight so conditions are relatively unchanged. The forecast remains the same so we still don't see a threat to the meeting," said the Punchestown spokesman Richie Galway.
Another Tingle Creek entry, Schindlers Hunt, will also take up the Durkan option instead, while it has been confirmed that the former Grand National hero Hedgehunter will make his first start of the season in the Grade 1 race.
Very different conditions will be in place early on Sunday morning when Dylan Thomas runs in the $1.8 million Vase over a mile and a half at Sha Tin alongside Noel Meade's Arch Rebel. Aidan O'Brien's other runner, Excellent Art, is due to run in the Mile.
O'Brien was pleased with the condition of both his horses on his arrival in Hong Kong and Dylan Thomas, in particular, caught the eye of local work watchers yesterday with a seven furlong spin on grass that ended with a final split of 23.4 seconds.
"We know how good he is on his good days and he seems in fine form but it has been a long season," said O'Brien.
A midweek Clonmel meeting where ground conditions are so testing the chases have had to be cancelled is not an obvious stop for a Derby winner but it is where Temlett is scheduled to begin his jumping career this afternoon.
Willie Mullins's three-year-old looks in a different league to his opposition in today's opener due to a flat career that included a valuable win in last June's Ulster Derby and ended with a run off an official mark of 104 last September.
Temlett has the scope to do well at the new game and while these conditions will hardly suit him, it will be a surprise if he can't score first time of asking.
The maiden hurdle has been divided to make a six-race card and the season's leading rider, Davy Russell, appears to have the winning of both with Miss Tildy and Stylish Article who ran well behind Ravens Run at Fairyhouse on Saturday.
