First Lieutenant targeting Punchestown Gold Cup
First Lieutenant is all set for a clash in the Gold Cup at Punchestown before taking on his opponents in the Betfred Bowl at Aintree. He is a decent performer and has made his team proud on numerous occasions. He will be looking to gain some solid momentum
before heading into some major competitions.
Things will not be easy for the seasoned campaigner, as he will be up against some of the very best challengers such as Sir Des Champs, who has got a phenomenal record and doesn’t like settling for the second best.
According to Eddie O'Leary of Gigginstown House Stud “All going well the plan is for Sir Des Champs to run in the Bet Online With The Tote.com Punchestown Gold Cup. We were second at Cheltenham and you can't change the result but we'll hope for a good show
at Punchestown.”
He added, “There's a good chance that First Lieutenant will run as well. It's been all good so far with him after Aintree and the horse will line up as long as he tells us he wants to run. Quito De La Roque is likely to go for the race as well. We were happy
enough with him at Aintree - he ran a very good race at his level and probably just wasn't quite good enough there.”
Sir Des Champs has got a terrific strike rate and he appears to be in perfect rhythm at the moment. He has participated in a total of 16 races, winning nine of them, which shows that he can cause a lot of problems for his opponents at any level.
Moreover, he has finished as a runner up on a couple of times whereas secured the third spot once.
Compared to him, First Lieutenant doesn’t have a highly impressive winning percentage. Despite that, he cannot be taken lightly at all, as his performances have been more than satisfactory over the years.
The M F Morris’ trainee has appeared in a total of 20 competitions, winning seven times whereas secured the second position on six times. In addition to that, he has finished in third place on four occasions.
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