Even by Gowran standards, conditions are sure to be ultra-testing for Thursday’s Goffs Thyestes Chase programme.
The ground for the Co Kilkenny track’s feature event of the year, live on RTÉ 2, is rarely anything but heavy but is likely to be a particularly tough slog this time.
Doubts the programme could survive recent heavy rainfall proved unfounded when the course passed a 4.30pm inspection on Wednesday evening, good news all-round although a signal as to how stamina reserves will need to be as bottomless as the going for the 18-strong field.
First run in 1954, the €100,000 highlight now has the snappy label of ‘the race that stops a county’, a nod to the Melbourne Cup’s reputation for being the race that stops a nation.
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Willie Mullins famously has yet to win in Flemington, but in his backyard is almost invariably the man to beat with 10 Thyestes victories already to his name.
They include last year’s winner Nick Rockett who went on to deliver Mullins and his son Patrick the most memorably emotional success of their stellar careers in the Aintree Grand National.
Mullins Snr has a handful in the race this time – plus a reserve – with champion jockey Paul Townend opting for last season’s Scottish National hero Captain Cody.
The in-form Brian Hayes, who married his long-term partner Rachael Blackmore earlier this month, and enjoyed a 396-1 treble at Navan last weekend, is on Quai De Bourbon, one of four runners for Elon Musk’s buddy, the Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary.
In contrast, JP McManus unusually has only a single starter for one of the season’s top handicaps, although bottomweight Better Times Ahead looks a big player on the back of his Porterstown Chase victory in Fairyhouse.
He is trained near Kinsale by Robert Tyner and in the heart of Kilkenny hurling country it would be no surprise if this Thyestes turned into a rousing all-Cork finish.
The other ‘Rebel’ runner is Answer To Kayf from Terence O’Brien’s yard in Carrigtwohill in east Cork. The 10-year-old lines up in the Thyestes on the back of a big handicap victory already this season in the Troytown at Navan in November.
Crucially, that was on heavy ground, and equally significantly, all four of the horse’s career successes have come with heavy in the ground description.
Despite his age, Answer To Kayf is relatively lightly raced and his trainer said: “The Troytown was a career best, but you’d like to think he could have improved from that. He has gone up the handicap, but he’s been fantastic for us and anything he does would be a bonus now. If he runs his race, he will be one of the ones to beat.”
Jockey John Shinnick takes off a valuable 3lbs which could prove invaluable with the mud flying and gluepot conditions all but inevitable.
Similar sentiments will apply too in the Grade Two John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle, where many punters are likely to pin their faith in Jack Kennedy’s judgment.
The former champion jockey has opted to ride the 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Gerri Colombe on his return to flights, rather than Staffordshire Knot.
The latter looks a leading contender but Kennedy’s decision to stick with the Grade One chaser, who sports first-time cheekpieces, is hard to ignore. Nevertheless, it would be no surprise if last year’s winner Rocky’s Diamond underlined the adage about horses for courses, and conditions.
Declan Queally’s runner didn’t cut much ice behind Teahupoo at Christmas but the Grade One winning trainer is confident of a better showing having dispensed with the visor the horse wore at Leopardstown.
“Putting the visors on at Christmas was a bit of a mess to be honest, I don’t think he enjoyed them at all. He ran on his nerves, he didn’t stay like he can stay and didn’t jump like he can jump either,” said Queally who also runs Mozzie’s Sister in the race.
“I’m looking forward to running him on Thursday on proper soft ground, he likes those conditions and he likes the track – he’s won there twice before. You can just draw a line through his run in Leopardstown, and we’ll see a different horse on Thursday,” he added.
Welsh trainer Christian Williams travels to Kilkenny to give the former point-to-point winner Dixie Mafia a start in a handicap hurdle. It’s an unusual tack for the half-brother to exciting mare Bambino Fever. Gaelic Warrior’s brother Our Trigger starts his career in the bumper.
