Conflated adds a new dimension to Cheltenham Gold Cup picture

Michael O’Leary finds himself with an unlikely Cheltenham Gold Cup contender on his hands in Conflated but it won’t mean any reverse to the wind down of his racing interests.

The Ryanair boss rocked the sport in 2019 by announcing his planned withdrawal from racing over a five-year period.

That allowed for horses such as the dual-Grand National hero Tiger Roll to finish their careers but put a halt to the purchase of new young stock.

From 225 individual horses carrying his Gigginstown Stud colours in the 2018-19 season, there has been an inevitable drop in numbers for the eight-times champion owner.

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Conflated a surprise Irish Gold Cup winner for Gordon Elliott

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Although O'Leary bought a small number of young prospects last year to "stand by" trainer Gordon Elliott following his six-month suspension, he also offloaded up to 40 horses at last September's Horses in Training Sale in Doncaster.

After Conflated recorded a surprise 18-1 success in Saturday’s Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival, Elliott said he hoped O’Leary “might get a few more” after the unlikely victory.

However, the trainer striking while the big-race iron was hot doesn’t appear to have inflamed the businessman’s racing ambitions.

“What’s unexpected is very sweet but I would very much doubt it. When Mick says something he generally follows through,” the Gigginstown spokesman, Eddie O’Leary, said on Monday.

“You can see by the number of horses we’re running at the moment that we’re way down and the same bunch will go this year and what will be left will be very small,” he added.

It was Eddie O’Leary who informed his brother of his latest big-race success on Saturday.

The Ryanair chief executive skipped the Leopardstown action to attend the Ireland-Wales rugby match.

“He was trying to watch it but couldn’t get it up on the phone. The phone wouldn’t work in the Aviva.

“I rang him and said ‘well done, that was great’. He said ‘What – Delta Work?’ and I said ‘not Delta Work, the other fella!’ ” O’Leary commented.

The Gigginstown team now has a choice between aiming Conflated at the Gold Cup or perhaps dropping him back in trip for the Ryanair Chase that they sponsor.

Balko Des Flos filled in a long-held aim for O’Leary by winning his own race in 2018.

However, the Gold Cup has always been the ultimate Gigginstown ambition over the years and both Don Cossack in 2016 and War Of Attrition a decade earlier supplied ‘Blue Riband’ glory.

“It’s up in the air at the moment. The Ryanair is probably a bit short for him. But then the Gold Cup might be a bit long for him. He’s made a monumental jump from 157 [official rating] so we’ll have to see where he fits in,” Eddie O’Leary said.

“Would he get the Gold Cup trip? I’m not sure. But then I wasn’t sure he’d win that the other day so maybe he’s improving a lot. You wouldn’t know.

“What I was very happy with is that he’s usually a little bit kinky and can hang to the left and jump to the right. [But] he was gun-barrel straight when he had a lead horse like Kemboy.

“But you only get that kind of good lead in a Grade One. So maybe he’s a much better horse in a better race where he can get a lead.”

Bookmakers appear satisfied Conflated will take the Gold Cup route and he is as short as 7-1 in some ante-post lists. In contrast he is generally available at 20-1 for the Ryanair.

Leopardstown

In recent years both O’Learys had been critical of the ground on the steeplechase course at Leopardstown.

For this Dublin Racing Festival extensive watering took place since Christmas, a policy helped by some rainfall over the weekend.

“Credit where credit is due – they did a fantastic job on the ground. The ground was beautiful on both tracks. It just proves they can do it, so why won’t they do it?” Eddie O’Leary said.

In other news, Horse Racing Ireland's director of racing, Jason Morris, has been appointed the new chairman of the European Pattern Committee for the next five years.

He takes over from the former HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh, who had held the post since 2005.

Kavanagh, who is now in charge of the Curragh, said: “The committee has chosen wisely in selecting Jason Morris over the role as chairman.

“He has great expertise in this area and a lifetime interest in the development of quality racing throughout Europe.”