Twelve to compete in Down Royal feature
RED CARPET READY FOR STARS AT DOWN ROYAL FESTIVAL: Down Royal Manager, Mike Todd gives the new red rubber winners circle a quick brush ahead of next weekends two day Ulster racing showcase event.
DOWN Royal’s two day festival gets underway on Friday.
The festival feature has a total entry of 12 after Monday’s forfeit stage.
Last year’s winner, Quito De La Roque, will bid for a repeat success on the Super Saturday card and attempt to emulate Kauto Star and Beef or Salmon, the pair dual winners of the £140,000 chase.
Trainer Colm Murphy said earlier this week: “He’s had his share of problems. We’ll start him at Down Royal in the jnwine.com chase which he won last year.”
Quito De La Roque caught champion two mile chaser Sizing Europe in the closing stages in very testing conditions last year but only ran once after the Maze finishing third at Leopardstown in the Lexus Chase.
Sizing Europe is due to re-oppose but the Queen Mother Champion Chase winner in 2011 and runner-up in that race this season has never won over the three mile trip.
British Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has dominated the race in recent renewals, winning the feature three times including twice with dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Kauto Star. Nicholls had entered four horses for next weekend’s feature but has decided to rely on Kauto Stone, the last named winner of the novice chase last year at the course and a half-brother to Kauto Star.
The Champion trainer will also run Cristal Bonus in the supporting feature, the Grade 2 Ladbrokes Novice Chase. Joncol, a dual Grade 1 winner trained by Paul Nolan has been confirmed a runner at Down Royal with the trainer stating: “The plan is to run in the Down Royal Champion Chase – everything is fine with him. He was a bit ring rusty [last week at Punchestown]. The ground was so testing he just got tired. He seems well since and will strip a lot fitter at Down Royal.”
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, who owns Quito De La Roque, also has First Lieutenant [Mouse Morris], Magnanimity [Dessie Hughes] and Roi Du Mee [Gordon Elliott] declared to represent him in the Down Royal feature.
A new winner’s circle at Down Royal has been completed with a red rubber cushion allowing the winners at next weekend’s Down Royal Festival, a red carpet walk into the winner’s enclosure.
Ten have been entered for the supporting Grade 2 novice chase feature on Saturday including the former Ulster point to pointer, Rathlin now based with Mouse Morris and the talented Tony Martin trained novice chaser, Bog Warrior.
Friday’s feature race, the Grade 2 WKD Novice hurdle is another to attract ten entries including Monksland, Shadow Eile, Cause of Causes and Edeymi.
Another new innovation at this year’s festival event will be a parade of champions on the Saturday with Moscow Flyer and Beef or Salmon, the pair now resident at the Irish National Stud confirmed to be in the line-up. Local trainers, Stuart Crawford and Colin McBratney highlighted their horses in good form ahead of the local festival with winners at Wexford and Galway respectively last weekend.
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Weather for Belfast
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 13 C
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