It won't eclipse Don Cossack's Cheltenham Gold Cup but as a proud son of the Kingdom no jockey will relish victory in the €175,000 Guinness Kerry National more than Bryan Cooper.
The good news for the Tralee-born Cooper is that he looks to have picked well for Listowel’s festival feature, opting for Folsom Blue from Gigginstown Stud’s half-dozen hopefuls.
Correctly choosing from the wealth of Gigginstown options has proved an onerous task for Cooper before, most notably when overlooking Rule The World in the most important national of all at Aintree in April.
The rider also overlooked Rogue Angel in the Irish National and in last year’s Kerry National, but that horse isn’t back to defend his title this time, leaving trainer Mouse Morris to rely on both the veteran First Lieutenant and Folsom Blue.
Also in the Gigginstown mix is Galway Plate hero Lord Scoundrel, who stays united with Donagh Meyler, while Clarcam tops the weights.
On this occasion it’s easy to see where Cooper is coming from in siding with Folsom Blue. The horse relishes a stamina test on heavy ground, and a 10.1 weight for a horse that isn’t the biggest looks ideal. He also has form in these good handicaps including when returning from more than a year out of action to finish third in the Paddy Power last Christmas.
Willie Mullins relies on the Galway Plate third, Ballycasey, but also has one of the three reserves, King's Wharf. It's the first reserve, Kylecrue, a winner on Sunday, who could go closest to embellishing the record of reserves in the race if getting a start.
Cooper’s father, Tom, trains Aurora Bell for this, but it looks like Folsom Blue can trigger local celebrations.
Testing conditions
In The Pocket will face truly testing conditions for the first time since impressively scoring at Limerick a year ago when lining up for the Listed feature on the flat.
John Oxx’s runner is preferred to the three-year-old Maneen who sports first-time headgear.
Romantic has shown admirable versatility in terms of ground, winning on testing conditions at Bellewstown and on a quick surface at Gowran. Chris Hayes's mount can go close in the last of the flat handicaps while Prove The Point could be the one in the first.
In other news Creggs Pipes found the step up to Group 1 company in Saturday’s Matron Stakes too much as she beat only one home behind Alice Springs.
Her trainer Andy Slattery hasn’t ruled out a quick reappearance by the filly, however, leaving her among 26 remaining in Sunday’s Group 3 Cordell Lavarack Lanwades Stud Stakes at Gowran Park.
