Tralee Festival preview: Tralee have decided to put all their eggs into one basket for their biggest single day of the year and Athlumney Lad could prove the pick of the bunch in the featured Guinness Gold Cup.
The €60,000 premier handicap has a distinguished history with the likes of the 1992 winner, Vintage Crop, featuring on its roll of honour.
Vintage Crop's trainer Dermot Weld has won it three other times too and this afternoon relies on the ex-John Gosden-trained Privy Seal, placed in the Italian Derby last year and a double Listed winner, who has his first start in Ireland.
However, the big handicap has to share top-billing with the festival's sole black type event, the Listed Ruby Stakes which in the recent past has usually been kept separate.
Weld is also represented in this by the former French Guineas-placed Miss Mambo.
It's the handicap that could most exercise punters minds, however, and Athlumney Lad makes a lot of appeal towards the lighter end of the weights.
Faster ground than the forecast "good" would be even better for Noel Meade's charge but the drop back to a mile and a half from the two miles of Galway's GPT looks more significant.
Nina Carberry gave Athlumney Lad a superb ride at Galway but the final hill was too much for the six-year-old's suspect stamina.
Athlumney Lad is not the biggest so today's weight should be perfect, especially with Padraig Beggy down to take another 5lb off.
Meade is also represented by Dashing Home towards the top of the handicap while John Oxx has engaged Niall McCullagh to ride Virginia Woolf who also ran behind Orpington at Leopardstown last time.
Callow Lake finished third in the Galway Hurdle, ahead of Athlumney Lad, and always runs well in these competitive handicaps, but these conditions look suitable for a good run from the Meade lightweight.
It's a significant day for the Meade yard with the surprise Galway Hurdle winner, More Rainbows, making his chasing debut, but the Co Meath trainer is not represented in the Stakes event which could fall to the consistent Common World.
Tom Hogan's horse didn't let himself down on the fast ground at Galway in the McDonogh but should be fine on these conditions and his overall profile gives him the winning of this.
More Rainbows is reported to have schooled well ahead of his first run over fences but faces a difficult task in the novice chase.
Dix Villez and Piercing Sun both boast defeats of the luckless Andy Higggins, but the most potent opponent of all looks to be Monday's course and distance winner Gortinard, who landed quite a touch in beating Church Island for Charles Byrnes and Davy Russell.
Local trainer Tom Cooper brings Skyscape for the mile handicap on the back of the Zafonic filly breaking her maiden at Gowran.
The form of that performance has been boosted since and a 77 rating in today's race doesn't look unkind.
Chris Hayes's 5lb claim won't do the local hope any harm either.
That other good apprentice Emmet Butterly is on Belle Child in the five-furlong handicap and a draw in stall two only increases her chances of defying an 8lb penalty for winning at Bellewstown.
