Irish Chasers

Galileo said:
Aran Concerto misses the Christmas festival.
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Found this on rte.ie

Noel Meade reports Aran Concerto to be nearing a return to the racecourse as he recovers from a slight setback.

The eight-year-old has always been held in the highest regard by his County Meath handler and won three of his five hurdling starts, including in Grade One company.

After 20 months on the sidelines with injury, the son of Zaffaran appeared to be as good as ever when making a winning chasing debut at Navan in November and Meade is preparing to unleash him once again.

'Aran Concerto had a setback just before we were going to run him in the Drinmore at Fairyhouse so that has held him up a little bit,' said Meade.

'He will be back though and all being well he will be out somewhere towards the end of this month.

'I don't really have a particular race in mind for him at the moment but we will just see how we go.'

Meade also had news of another Grade One-winning hurdler in Nicanor, who is still the only horse to have beaten Denman under rules.

He has been off the track for the best part of two years but his trainer fully expects him to return to the track in the near future.

'Nicanor is in full work and he too should be ready to run by the end of January,' the trainer continued.

'It's been frustrating with him as he has been very close to running a couple of times. But he has been kept swimming so hopefully he's still reasonably fit.'
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More Nicanor news

"We have also entered him in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle and we wanted to keep all of our options open at the moment," the trainer said.
"He's almost certainly going chasing but we just wanted to give him an entry over hurdles in case everything didn't work out. At the moment, everything is going well with him, but you never know what turns and twists can happen.
"Hopefully, he will be returning to the racecourse soon and he might be entered for a novice chase before the end of the month. We will also give him entries in The Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase and the RSA Chase, which would be my preferred options with him, but you never know with jump racing.
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After the best part of 3 years off, is he really going to be able to sustain a proper racing program?
 
He might not have raced for nearly three years, but he has, I believe, been in and out of training throughout. It's a big ask, but I will throw my eye towards the tele with a modicum of hope when he eventually turns up.
 
Melendez said:
He might not have raced for nearly three years, but he has, I believe, been in and out of training throughout. It's a big ask, but I will throw my eye towards the tele with a modicum of hope when he eventually turns up.
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It'd be great to see Nicanor back on the racecourse, however he won't be carrying any of my cash:o
 
It's the in-and-out that worries me. If it was just one injury which took a long time to get over, wouldn't you be more hopeful?
 
If it was one injury I would be more hopeful he would stand training/racing in the long term, but less hopeful he had retained his ability.
 
Willie Mullins

"This puts Golden Silver into the picture as one of our top novice chasers.
"He has plenty of speed but I thought he might stay. He didn't appear to stay in the Drinmore but I'm now wondering whether he wasn't straight enough for that.
"He never seems to give his all at the first time of asking so he'll hopefully improve again from here.
"The two-mile trip in the Arkle will suit him and he'll get a lead the whole way.
"They are both in the Arkle and that is where they will go."
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From Irish Racing

Tranquil Sea will bid to get his career back on track in the Dr P.J. Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown next month after his below-par effort at Fairyhouse in November.
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Edward O'Grady's seven-year-old ended last season with a Grade One win over timber, and marked himself out as a leading novice chaser with a smooth victory on his fencing debut.
However, not all went to plan in the Drinmore at Fairyhouse as he trailed home last of the five finishers with no obvious explanation for the run.
O'Grady said: "Absolutely nothing came to light after his last run and he is in super form.
"He'll have a school sometime and then hopefully come to Leopardstown on February 8th for the P.J Moriarty."
Tranquil Sea is entered in both the Irish Independent Arkle Trophy and RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
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Couple of interesting novice chases at Navan tommorrow. Can't really see a punting angle in the Flying Bolt (2m) myself. Couldn't have Made in Taipan at a short price given his last two displays (and his trainer), with Shazand and Northern Alliance surely better over further. Majestic Concorde makes some appeal almost by default, especially given the trip isn't as likely to inconvenience him as much as the two mentioned above. A watching brief for me though.

I'm happy to take on Siegemaster at around evens in the Ten Up (3m). Conditions should suit but I'm not convinced he's one to have much faith in myself and his form over fences does not entitle him to be evens IMO. Operation Houdini will relish conditions but I would imagine will find one or two too classy.

The two I'm interested in are Dashing George and Equus Maximus. Dashing George looked a horse to follow over fences when winning on the bridle at Tralee from Jaime's Boy, but subsequently went totally off the boil. Looked back on song in two recent outings over hurdles though and 8/1 looks a fairly tasty price. Equus Maximus looked a decent prospect when winning at Punchestown - form subsequently boosted by Forest Leaves - but dissapointed at Naas last time. That said, conditions were horrendous that day and his Punchestown run gives him a decent chance. I'll probably have a small E/W punt on both - market has a nice E/W shape to it, I reckon.

Thoughts on the card?
 
Jaysus, how wrong were Paddy Power's opening shows?

Interesting to see the Martin horse Northern Alliance so short this morning.
 
I fancy northern Alliance at current prices.

He was a slightly better hurdler than Majestic Concorde according to ratings and has more experience over fences. Made In Taipan needs to prove his well being before I'd back him again. Shazand was apparently being held by Northern Alliance when falling last time out.

The others either aren't suited by conditions or don't appear good enough.
 
Good performance from Made in Taipan - certainly travelled a hell of a lot better than he did at Naas.

Form doesn't look all that strong in the context of a race like the Arkle though.

Market told the story with Shazand.
 
Aran Concerto runs at Navan today (in the last)....not sure the ground or trip will suit. Imagine a nice run ahead of the Powers Gold Cup is what connections are hoping for.
 
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