RACING: The highly rated Rule Supreme, a 33 to 1 shot for the SunAlliance Chase with Cashmans, starts on the road to Cheltenham by facing five opponents at Thurles this afternoon.
Already the winner of a big handicap at the Punchestown Festival in April, that date allows Rule Supreme continue in novice races in Britain this season although not in Ireland.
The conditions of today's Glen Chase, however, allow horses who have won just one chase and it will be disappointing if Rule Supreme cannot cope with the likes of Caishill and Shallee.
No one will be more disappointed than trainer Willie Mullins.
Describing him as "a natural" for the SunAlliance, he added in a recent interview:
"He is a horse with the potential to go all the way to the top. His jumping can be a bit sketchy and if we can get that sorted he has the engine to go places."
Rule Supreme's rider Ruby Walsh could have a very good day with his main domestic rivals, Barry Geraghty and Paul Carberry, on the sidelines.
Geraghty is suspended while Carberry has a fractured thumb after a fall at the weekend.
Ride The Storm fell at the first last time out but is worth another shout in the handicap chase while Walsh can also score on the Mullins-trained Verrocchio in the second division of the Juvenile hurdle.
Geraghty misses out on the second chase start of Emotional Moment in the opener and this one should be much more at home over today's trip than the two and three-quarter miles he ran over behind the dour stayer Satco Express.
Francy's Fancy dropped from three miles to two and won at Gowran last time out. The runner-up that day, Rampart, has a 4lb pull but that doesn't look enough.
