Sackville's attempt at eight wins in a row could see him join an illustrious roll of honour if successful in today's Powers Gold Cup. The £65,000 Grade 1 pot has famous names such as Carvill's Hill (1989), Captain Christy (1974) and Arkle (1963) on its winners' list and there are those who believe it's only a matter of time before Sackville becomes a similarly worthy name.
His success off 12st at Leopardstown eight days ago prompted Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup quotes of as low as 10 to 1 for next season and if those prices are to be anyway relevent, the Frances Crowley trained eight-year-old should win today.
Ranged against Sackville are some of the usual suspects that have figured during his remarkable streak but also Limestone Lad who at the start of the season was the one most widely expected to be filling the slot Sackville now holds as Ireland's top novice.
The Bowe runner will strip fitter after his third to Bannow Bay last week but doubts about his happiness over fences persist and this race appears to be being treated as an end-of-season after thought.
The other Fairyhouse feature is the £80,000 handicap hurdle where the top weight Grimes has done a good job in putting most of the field out of the handicap. Just nine others remain in the handicap proper but there will be a lot interest in Spokesman who is just 1lb off the right mark.
The Christy Roche team can also be expected to score in the opener with For Paddy's Day but possibly their runner in the second race, Timber King, may be outpointed by Darapour. The O'Brien runner fell two out here last week but will be much better suited by better ground and the half mile less.
With Sheltering going for the National tomorrow, the way looks open to the luckless Lucky Town to pick up a decent pot in the hunters chase.
Down south at Wexford, the most likely winner should be Darasim, third to Rayyana on his debut, in the maiden while Back To Bolgers looks the pick in the two-mile handicap.
The Barry Hills-trained 1999 winner Rainbow High headed 27 horses confirmed yesterday for next Wednesday's Tote Chester Cup, with Richard Hughes booked for the ride. Last year's unlucky-in-running second Ansar, trained by Dermot Weld, is also in the line-up again.
