Time may no longer on the side of Captain Guinness, but rule him out at your peril, and Quilixious’ form this season stacks up with some of the very best in class. Solness is now a two-time Grade 1 winner – and having struck oil yesterday in the Fred Winter, Owning Hill trainer Joseph O’Brien will fancy his chances of lightning striking twice.
Gorgeous Tom has run well this season and could go well in the Brown Advisory, but again this appears a potential two-horse affair between the Willie Mullins-trained pair of Ballyburn and Dancing City.
Ballyadam was second at the festival last year and you can’t buy experience and in a wide-open Coral Cup, anything can happen. The Grand Annual is another race that team Knockeen once captured via Maskada, and Dancing On My Own is another that has often threatened to score in a valuable handicap. Jasko Des Dames is also not without hope and Team Knockeen will approach Wednesday with a sense of quiet confidence.
WEDNESDAY:
Turners Novices’ Hurdle (1:20) – Forty Coats (100/1) – trained by Henry de Bromhead.
Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (2:00) – Gorgeous Tom (12/1) – trained by Henry de Bromhead.
Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (2:40) – Ballyadam (12/1) – trained by Henry de Bromhead; Sandor Clegane (16/1) – owned by Kay Browne; Beckett Rock (25/1) – trained by Henry de Bromhead.
Queen Mother Champion Chase (4:00) – Captain Guinness (25/1) – trained by Henry de Bromhead; Quilixious (33/1) – trained by Henry de Bromhead.
Grand Annual Handicap Chase (4:40) – Jasko Des Dames (16/1) – trained by Henry de Bromhead; Dancing On My Own (20/1) – trained by Henry de Bromhead.
