Curtin comes down on National Hunt season
There’s always a little bit of sadness around when the jumps season ends and you have to wait a few months to see jockeys get properly muddy again.
But before we put on our big frown face there is still one more day of action to look forward to at Punchestown and it should be a good one.
Two Grade Ones are the features of the Saturday action in Kildare with all eyes hoping Annie Power can help repair some of the mental torture inflicted at Cheltenham on hapless punters.
Irish Stallion Farms E.B.F. Mares Champion Hurdle 15.50
It was the fall that stopped not so much a nation but certainly more than a few hearts.
Annie Power’s crash to the ground at the last heading for the post in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle is one of the moments of the sporting year so far, but the horse and Willie Mullins have a chance to atone for that loss on Saturday.
The field includes horses like the Jarlath Fahey mount Jennies Jewel while Katie T represents Kevin Prendergast after winning the BoyleSports Handicap Hurdle at Leopardstown in January.
Bryan Cooper will take the ride on the other Mullins mount in action as Analifet seems to be one of the few horses that might challenge but there is just no looking past Annie Power.
Ruby Walsh and the horse were left unhurt after their huge tumble in March and hopefully both trainer and jockey now know what exactly went wrong that day.
Barring a repeat of that calamity it should be another win for Mullins and Walsh to savour.
AES Champion Four Year Old Hurdle 16.25
The last Grade One of the festival is going to be a very hard fought race with a number of horses possibly coming up with a winning run.
Sam-Twiston-Davies will be hard beat on the Cheltenham winner Qualando after a massive 25-1 success in March, so it should be interesting to see how he handles Punchestown.
The Alan King mount Pain Au Chocolat is also a horse that takes the eye while David Pipe has Stars Over The Sea coming over.
Willie Mullins will run Petite Parisienne after a fifth placed finish at Cheltenham, and the oddly spelled Buiseness Sivola, and if ether turns up the pace early on they could burn off the competition.
Fiscal Focus is a horse that hasn’t inspired much faith while the field will be made up of Charles O’Brien’s consistent Prussian Eagle.
That leads us to back the Paul Nicholls mount for this race although don’t discount an outsider finisher.
Palmerstown House Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase 17.00
21 horses so this could be a massive lottery but even with so many horses there is still enough value to be had in this race.
We have always liked the look of Gallant Oscar and a third placed finish at Cheltenham bodes well for Saturday’s action.
The Mouse Morris mount Rule the World is another who can always grab attention, and should feature coming up the last if conditions and the ride is right.
Grand Jesture had a nightmare last week at Sandown when refusing to race, but hopefully there will be better luck this time. Henry De Bromhead doesn’t have much time to try and get the horse right but if he has then we can see a mighty finish.
Michael Hourigan’s The Job Is Right may also feature but for the rest of the field it really is matter of seeing who can hack the pace.
As a final prediction we think Grand Jesture can beat the current odds and represent a tasty end to the festival.
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