Twist Magic can cast his spell at Punchestown
As dream teams go, Paul Nicholls and Tony McCoy is not the worst pairing doing the rounds.
Nicholls may be rueing the fact that stable jockey Ruby Walsh is out of action with a broken arm but McCoy can make for a more than adequate replacement at this week’s Punchestown Festival, which starts today with a card highlighted by three Grade One races.
Twist Magic comes to the Boylesports.com Champion Chase off the back of another woeful performance at the Cheltenham Festival, when he was pulled up in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
However, it was a similar story in 2008 when he was sixth at Cheltenham and then won convincingly at Punchestown. Perhaps it is nothing more than a preference for right-handed courses but Twist Magic has produced his most impressive form at Sandown Park, Ascot and Punchestown.
In December he beat Forpadydeplasterer by 15 lengths in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown and proved that run was no fluke with another effortless display of precision jumping to win the Victor Chandler Chase, at Ascot the following month, by 12 lengths.
Two of his main rivals will be Sizing Europe and Kalahari King, who himself has a new rider. Graham Lee is now also on the injured list following a heavy fall at Hexham yesterday and Davy Russell takes over on Ferdy Murphy’s runner.
Kalahari King can be forgiven his early exit in the Melling Chase at Aintree 11 days ago but he does have 10 lengths to make up on Twist Magic from when he finished second in the Celebration Chase at Sandown 12 months ago. The decision to run Sizing Europe is a bold one by his trainer, Henry de Bromhead, for a horse who capped a fine first season over fences with battling victory in the Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham last month.
Unbeaten in five starts over fences, three of them at Punchestown, Sizing Europe is sure to give a good account of himself but may find this company a little too hot just yet.
The Growise Champion Novices’ Chase looks an open contest and Saddlers Storm might just cause a bit of an upset. Having won three on the bounce since the turn of the year he was favourite for the Irish Grand National and was still in contention when unseating his rider six fences out. He still has to improve a bit for this level but has been going the right way through the second half of the season.
Not everything went right for Nicky Henderson during March as a strike-rate of 16% for the month indicates, although winning the Champion and Triumph Hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival probably helped balance the books quite nicely.
One race that got away was the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle where General Miller departed at the first flight. However, he compensated by winning the Aintree equivalent and can add further to Henderson’s April strike-rate of 23% by winning the Evening Herald Champion Novices’ Hurdle, where Grey Soldier may prove the biggest danger.
Rachel Alexandra, sensationally beaten at Fair Grounds last month, impressed clockers at Churchill Downs yesterday when working over six furlongs.
The mare, who was voted Horse of the Year for 2009, was beaten by Zardana in New Orleans Ladies Stakes a month ago which had been a prep run for what was expected to be Rachel Alexandra’s first meeting with Zenyatta, the other queen of American racing. That much-anticipated clash had been scheduled for the Apple Blossom Invitational Handicap, at Oaklawn Park two weeks ago, for which Zenyatta ran out a comfortable winner in the absence of her most potent rival.
After her morning gallop, Rachel Alexandra’s trainer, Steve Asmussen, said: “She worked crazy good. She's had three works here since she's been here, and they have been extremely Rachelesque. I'm happy to see her putting in work like she did last year.”
There is still no decision on where Rachel Alexandra will run next but Asmussen must just be hoping this is a sign that the magic is back.
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