Penny looks pretty

Penny Rich doesn't run over hurdles anymore but Tom Hogan's veteran doesn't need to when he can look like such a good bet for…

Penny Rich doesn't run over hurdles anymore but Tom Hogan's veteran doesn't need to when he can look like such a good bet for today's mile and a half handicap at Listowel.

It's four years since Penny Rich achieved probably his greatest success when landing the festival's fourth-day feature, the Smithwicks Handicap Hurdle, which also takes place today.

That, and a third placing to Istabraq in the 2001 AIG Irish Champion Hurdle, represented the pinnacle of his career but after a roundabout passage since then Penny Rich looks to have got a second wind.

Penny Rich was taken out of Hogan's stable by his then owners and worked his way through various yards in Britain until Hogan found him again in Cheshire and brought him back.

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The Nenagh trainer has declared he won't run the horse over hurdles again but he has already won on the flat at Galway and ran into Tuesday's Lartigue winner Victram at Roscommon last time when runner-up.

That was over a mile and a quarter and the return to a mile and a half should be ideal while the very soft going will not be a problem.

The €50,000 Smithwicks Hurdle looks a very trappy contest where Michael Hourigan runs both Kilbeggan Lad (Ruby Walsh) and The Screamer (Paul Carberry).

Kilbeggan Lad hasn't run since finishing runner-up to Macs Joy at Leopardstown in February but then getting the race in the stewards room. That followed-up a narrow Gowran success and while his fitness must be taken on trust he looks a possible answer if sharp enough.

Fitness is not an issue with Full Victory in the opening seven-furlong maiden which featured the first racecourse start of Alamshar two years ago.

Full Victory may not graduate to Irish Derby and King George glory but he finished well enough at Tipperary behind Allexina to suggest he can go one better at the expense of Set In Motion.

Lincam only just found Prince Of Tara too good over three miles at Roscommon but the ground today will make the Beginners Chase seem like three miles and maybe a bit more.

The locally-owned Cloudy Bays was well backed to win over hurdles at Tralee but found one too good. With Model Son left in the three-mile handicap hurdle Cloudy Bays doesn't have topweight this time and should be hard to beat. Tasman can get the better of Blanco, who was claimed for €14,500 after winning at Ballinrobe, in the maiden hurdle while Philip Fenton looks the man to follow on L'Antartique in the bumper.

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor is the racing correspondent of The Irish Times. He also writes the Tipping Point column