NEWS DIGEST: RUBY WALSH was stood down for the day after taking a fall from Twenty Bags in the opening Kenny Group Maiden Hurdle at Galway yesterday.
The James Leavy-trained gelding was one of the sufferers after Dylans Secret fell when seven crashed out at the first flight in the race won by Golan Go.
“He has a haematoma on his leg and is bruised and sore. He has been stood down for the day and will be assessed again in the next few days,” said racecourse doctor Kevin Mulcahy.
* Officialsat Leopardstown are full of hope for the clash between Classic winners Sea The Stars and Fame And Glory in the Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes. John Oxx's four-time Group One winner and Aidan O'Brien's Irish Derby victor are on course to renew rivalry in what is being billed as the race of the year on Saturday.
Oxx will not want to risk Sea The Stars, who defeated Fame And Glory in the Investec Derby, on soft ground, but the Currabeg handler will have been heartened by the latest going report from the Dublin track which describes course conditions as good, good to firm in places.
“We’re really hopeful at the moment and I think there’s an excellent chance we’ll have a big clash on Saturday,” said Leopardstown general manager Tom Burke.
“I’ve been keeping in touch with the trainers on a daily basis on the latest conditions and weather forecast.
“It is shaping up to be the race of the year. We are really looking forward to it.
“This morning the ground was good, good to firm in places. Looking forward, the forecast is a bit mixed. It should be mainly dry for the rest of Sunday, but there’s the possibility of some showers tonight or tomorrow, then sharp, showery conditions on Tuesday. But a lot of these tend to be hit and miss. There’s a spell of rain for a while on Wednesday and after that into showery conditions again of the hit and miss variety but by the weekend it might become dry.
“That’s the way it’s shaping up, the week is a bit mixed. At this stage Wednesday is the day we will get more rain than anything else, but I don’t think they will be in huge quantities.
“In the past week we were forecast rain at various stages, but we never got as much as was indicated. We have avoided a lot of the rain while the west of Ireland have had a lot. The east coast appears to fare much better.”
* Munsefcould bid to book his ticket to the Emirates Melbourne Cup by running in the Stockholm Cup at Taby next month. Connections of the seven-year-old, formerly with John Dunlop and David Nicholls, are dreaming of a crack at the Australian showpiece thanks to Munsef winning three of his four starts since joining Ian Williams' stable this summer.
And the mile-and-a-half Group Three contest in Stockholm on September 13th will give them the chance to assess his Flemington prospects.
“He’s done very well and we’ve been delighted with him, it was good to see him stay a mile and six at Chester,” said Williams.
“Obviously that threw up potentially the opportunity of going to Melbourne which is a tall order, but which both his owner and myself would be very keen on doing if the opportunity were there. I think his participation in that would probably revolve around his performance in his likely next run.
“It’s more likely than anything to be the Stockholm Cup on September 13th although it could be Chester the day before, but the most likelihood is Stockholm.
“He’s got a 5lb penalty for his Listed success at Chester last week, so for the moment the likelihood is Stockholm.”
