IRISH RACING WEEKEND PREVIEWS:THE CHANGE of season is illustrated tomorrow when Leopardstown stages the final flat turf fixture of 2010 in Ireland, but the most valuable pot of the day is the €55,000 Paddy Power Cork Grand National.
Pat Smullen and Johnny Murtagh are absent from Leopardstown, to which former Irish champion jockey Jamie Spencer travels from Britain for five rides that could yield his first success here since last year’s Irish Oaks.
Spencer rides two for Dermot Weld, including Stunning View in the Knockaire Stakes. But the Melbourne-bound trainer runs three in the race, and Libano could be the bet to record back-to-back wins in the Listed highlight.
The former Italian 2,000 Guineas winner beat Rayeni and Luisant in this race last year, and there was encouragement in his comeback run behind stable companion Emulous at Tipperary.
Libano thrives on soft ground and such conditions will negate any disadvantage from a wide draw.
Leopardstown’s other Listed race is the five-runner Eyrefield Stakes, where Obligation can confirm form with last Monday’s course winner Tiz The Shot.
There is unlikely to be a repeat of Rite Of Passage’s rout in last year’s November Handicap, but Willie Mullins’ Wee Giant could represent a touch of value despite being 4lb out of the weights proper. The Downpatrick maiden hurdle winner was staying on well behind Table Mountain at Navan last time.
Thirteen runners line up for the Cork feature, including 2008 winner Alickadoo and Ruby Walsh’s mount Operation Houdini.
However, nobody is coming into the race in better from than Noel Meade, who boasts an almost 50 per cent strike rate from his last 23 runners and whose representative, Sigma Lifestyle, can provide jockey Davy Condon with some compensation.
Condon has blamed himself for Fisher Bridge’s narrow defeat in the recent Munster National at Limerick, and this marathon, three-and-a-half-mile trip should be ideal for the stamina-laden Sigma Lifestyle.
Farringdon carries JP McManus’ colours for the first time in the Grade Three novice chase and can build on a Ballinrobe victory for Peter Savill last month.
Mount Helicon should be hard to beat in the Grade Three novice hurdle, while Jessica Harrington’s Listowel winner Magical Memoir, returning to flights, could be the one to beat the boys in the three-year-old hurdle.
