Bostons Angel all set to race in the Hennessy Gold Cup
Bostons Angel is all set to take part in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown in Ireland on Sunday, February 12, 2012. The big event has attracted 10 entries up till now, and there seem to be no chances of any change in this number.
Jessica Harrington, trainer of the eight-year-old horse, was confident of a good show in the race. She admitted that her horse was not fit over the past few months, but things are looking better now.
According to Harrington, “He worked last week and I was happy with him and the plan is to run at the weekend. He just wasn't right [before Christmas], so we had to skip the Lexus Chase, but he is fine again now and we'll try him with cheek pieces or
blinkers on Sunday.”
Bostons Angel has got a pretty decent record in his 18 race starts. He has won eight times, finished runner up twice and finished third on three occasions. Therefore, he has a very good chance of fighting for race victory at Leopardstown.
However, the bookmakers have not shown full confidence in Harrington’s trained horse, as he has to prove his form and fitness to everyone. He last raced in December, 2011, which indicates he might be a little rusty.
Due to this, Bostons Angel has been given a starting price of 7 to 1 for the Gold Cup. It is still not bad, considering he is making a comeback to racing after a couple of months.
The favourite to win at Leopardstown is Quel Esprit, trained by Willie Mullins. He has been given a general starting price of 5 to 2, and is expected to dominate the proceedings come Sunday.
On the other hand, Quito De La Roque is also in very good form, and can make a solid impression in the Gold Cup. He is considered to be the second favourite for the event with a starting price of 3 to 1.
Colm Murphy, trainer of Quito De La Roque, expects his horse to run well at Leopardstown. However, he finished third in his last race.
Commenting on that performance, Murphy added, “I don't know what happened to him the last day [when third in the Lexus Chase] - maybe he had a harder race than we thought when he won the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal.”
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