Noel Meade likely to enter Realt Dubh in the sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival
Realt Dubh is in stellar form and looking to compete in the Cheltenham Festival, which is scheduled to start on 13th March, 2012 till 16th March, 2012.
The son of Beneficial, out of Suez Canal, trained by Noel Meade, has been performing in an outstanding manner. He has been claiming placed finishes throughout 2010 and 2011.
D.J. Sharkey, the eight-year-old gelding’s owner, was proud of his performance in the Cheltenham Festival last year.
He entered the race with the odds of 17 to 2, and finished third in the Grade 1 Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy on 15th March, 2011.
Meade was impressed with his next performance in the Grade 1 race at Fairyhouse. The gelding exhibited his true skill and capability as he defeated, Loosen My Load, by an immense margin of 11 lengths, in the Powers Gold Cup Chase, on 24th April,
2011.
It has not been decided which race Realt Dubh will be competing in. It is expected that he will participate in the sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase, which is scheduled to take place on 14th March, 2012, on the Ladies Day of
the Cheltenham Festival instead of the Ryanair Chase.
Due to the fact that this race will cover a distance of 2 miles, Noel Meade is likely to include his runner in this line-up.
Realt Dubh is familiar with this distance as Meade told the media that "I'm nearly certain that he's going to go for the two-mile race, we had a look at it and decided that the Ryanair probably isn't as good a race but it looks far more competitive.”
Realt Dubh has not competed in 2012 yet, but has been going through work-outs and exercises to build up his strength. He lost by a narrow margin of 1 length and a ¼ in his previous race.
He was defeated on this distance by race favourite, Captain Chris, in the Grade 1 Ryanair Novice Chase, held at Punchestown on 5th May, 2011.
If Realt Dubh is raced at the Cheltenham Festival in this race, he will be up against tough competitors such as Sizing Europe, Big Zeb and Kauto Stone.
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