RACING:THE LEADING Cheltenham fancy Rubi Light is on track to warm up for the festival at Gowran Park this Saturday where he will try and win back-to-back renewals of the Red Mills Chase.
Rob Hennessy’s stable star, currently a 7 to 1 second favourite for the Ryanair Chase in four weeks time, is the stand-out entry among the nine left in the €40,000 Grade Two event after yesterday’s forfeit stage.
Rubi Light picked up the Red Mills in 2011 en-route to finishing third in last year’s Ryanair. He graduated to Grade One class in December when successful in the John Durkan at Punchestown before finishing runner-up to Synchronised in the Lexus (3m).
Also among the entry for this weekend’s two-and-a-half-mile feature are the Kinloch Brae winner Apt Approach and China Rock, who finished fifth in Sunday’s Hennessy at Leopardstown.
“He ran a decent enough race until the second last, but he ran very keen and he was never going to get home after doing that,” said China Rock’s trainer Mouse Morris yesterday. “I suppose it was to be expected on his second run back. I haven’t looked at the time but it seemed quite a slowly run race and they went no gallop which wouldn’t have suited him.”
Morris added: “He jumped all right. He missed the second last but that didn’t really make any difference and he has just got tired. I’ll have a chat with the owners and see where we go. He’s in the Gold Cup but we have to be realistic.”
Saturday’s other Grade Two contest is the Red Mills Hurdle, a race famously won by Hardy Eustace in 2005 before landing the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Willie Mullins dominates the 13-strong entry with a trio of top horses, So Young, Zaidpour and Mikael D’Haguenet, who have options to run in either the Champion Hurdle and the World Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Mikael D’Haguenet is as low as 10 to 1 for the stayers’ title while the progressive So Young is a 14 to 1 shot. Ground conditions at Gowran yesterday were officially “soft.”
After Willie Mullins’s upbeat report on the reigning Champion Hurdler Hurricane Fly at the weekend, the 2011 Horse Of The Year has hardened further in ante-post betting for Cheltenham.
There was also significant support yesterday for Mullins’s star mare Quevega who will bid to retain her David Nicholson Mares Hurdle title and is now 4 to 6 with Stan James.
“Due to demand, we have now priced up have a special ‘Willie Mullins Repeat Double’: 2/1 Hurricane Fly and Quevega both to repeat last year’s wins in the Champion Hurdle and David Nicholson Mares Hurdle respectively,” said spokesman Joseph Burke.
“It would appear both merely have to turn up and jump at this stage in order for punters to collect.”
Quevega’s chances of completing a remarkable four-in-a-row at Cheltenham look to be helped yesterday when Colm Murphy revealed his star mare Voler La Vedette is more likely to take up the World Hurdle option next month.
“I’ve had a chat with the owners and we’ve decided she won’t run at the weekend. She’ll go straight to Cheltenham for the World Hurdle,” said Murphy yesterday. “We’ll just keep her ticking over now. She seems in great form.”
Hurricane Fly will step up his Cheltenham preparation next week after Mullins reported: “Hurricane Fly is fantastically well at the moment. Paul (Townend) rides him out every day at home and he said he’s jumping out of his skin. He had a nice easy week and he’ll have another easy one this week before we start building him up for Cheltenham.”
