RACING/Leopardstown Report: Florida Pearl lit up a gloomy Leopardstown yesterday evening with two stunning pieces of work that left both Willie Mullins and Adrian Maguire ecstatic.
"That was huge, way better than I expected. I don't think a piece of work could be better," said a delighted Mullins.
"He was like a Ferrari. I wouldn't swap him for any other horse in the Gold Cup, not even Looks Like Trouble," grinned Maguire. "He was fantastic." The jockey travelled especially from Britain for the post-race workout and guided Florida Pearl over six fences along with his stable companion, Alexander Banquet.
After a short break, the pair of Gold Cup hopefuls then galloped over six furlongs and Florida Pearl again left Alexander Banquet trailing in his wake.
"Barry (Geraghty) was happy enough with Alexander who wouldn't be the type to do that well in a piece of work. But Florida was tremendous. At his price, he must be great each-way value and I still believe in him," Mullins added.
Cashmans reacted by slashing Florida Pearl's Gold Cup price to 10 to 1 and Maguire could not have been more impressed with his Cheltenham mount.
"You know when a horse is right, and he felt fantastic. It was very, very exciting. I had two huge smiles on my face after each bit of work and I still think he can do it in the Gold Cup," he said.
Frances Crowley's Gold Cup duo, Sackville and Moscow Express, also worked after racing and both did a circuit of the track. Other Cheltenham horses to go included the Triumph Hurdle hope Newhall who bounced back after picking up a stone bruise last week.
The one blot on Willie Mullins's weekend, however, was the news on his Festival Bumper favourite Alexander Milenium who pulled a shoe on Saturday. "He is a bit sore and it's certainly a worry at this stage," the trainer admitted.
The actual racing itself was comparatively underwhelming with Chimes At Midnight remaining a 66 to 1 outsider for the Champion Hurdle after finishing runner-up to Jenniferjo on his jumping debut.
"I'm happy with that. It was a great run on that ground (heavy) and he seems to be back to himself. The problems he had with his back last year look to be gone," said his owner-trainer, Luke Comer.
Chimes At Midnight went down by two and a half lengths in the Ballsbridge Hurdle but did have the favourite, Mutakarrim five lengths back in third. "He is in the SunAlliance as well but if the field is a good bit smaller in the Champion, I think he would run in that," Comer added.
A possible attempt at the four- mile National Hunt Chase next week could be Oa Baldixe's reward for giving the favourite Ellenjay a three-and-a-half-length beating in the Stepaside Novice Chase.
Paul Carberry's mount was challenged by Ellenjay in the straight but a mistake by the latter at the final fence swung the advantage decisively in Oa Baldixe's favour. He is now an 8 to 1 chance with Cashmans for the Cheltenham race.
Carberry went on to make it a double on the outsider Champagne Native who beat the odds-on Good Shuil in the handicap chase. The former Grand National winner, Papillon, finished a well-beaten fifth but will have a run over hurdles at Punchestown before travelling again to Liverpool.
Kadoun survived a stewards' inquiry into possible interference to pick up the handicap hurdle. The Michael O'Brien-trained runner jumped to his left at the last, and then hung on the run in, but still had too much for Lawz and hung on by a length and a half.
