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Racing News |
Harty Considering Boylesports.com International Raid
08/12/08
County Kildare trainer Sabrina Harty is keeping one eye on the weather as she prepares Won In The Dark for a tilt at the £200,000 Grade Two Boylesports.com International (3.05pm), run over two miles and a furlong at Cheltenham on Saturday, December 13. The prestigious contest (race 19 in the Order Of Merit) has attracted 11 entries today.
The four-year-old Won In The Dark, third in last season’s Grade One JCB Triumph Hurdle at The Festival, could face esteemed opposition, with three of the first four horses in the betting for the 2009 Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle all entered. These are Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle victor Katchit, current Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle favourite Binocular and last season’s Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle hero Crack Away Jack.
Harty revealed today: “The Boylesports.com International is an option for Won In The Dark and if it was good ground I would say he would go there. We are trying to get as good ground as we can for him, so we entered him and we will see what happens during the week. If it comes up more good than soft we will let him take his chance. He really needs nice ground.
“He was lucky enough to have good ground almost every time he ran last season, even at Christmas time, but it has been hard to come by this season. The ground has been soft here in Ireland for a good while.”
Won In The Dark was a top-class juvenile hurdler last season. The Montjeu gelding won the Grade One Durkan New Homes Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown last Christmas as well as the Grade One Champion 4-Y-O Hurdle at Punchestown in April. He opened this season’s account in the Grade One Maplewood Developments Hurdle at Punchestown on November 16. Won In The Dark was not disgraced to finish fourth behind Hardy Eustace on unsuitably heavy going.
Harty continued: “Won In The Dark is a smart little horse; he is genuine and loves to gallop away. He needs the good ground because it is hard enough as a four-year-old against these nice horses, especially if the ground is against him.
“He is in great form and ran well here on really heavy ground in November. That was his first attempt against the older horses and he was only five lengths off Jered in the end. Davy (Russell) was not hard on him and we are happy with him.”
The Boylesports.com International, the third richest hurdle race in Britain and Ireland, is a premier trial for the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at The Festival in March. There is a £200,000 bonus payment offered by Boylesports for any horse winning both the Boylesports.com International and the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle in the same season. If won, this will be split £180,000 for the owner, £10,000 for the trainer and £10,000 for the successful yard's stable staff. Rooster Booster won both contests in the 2002/03 season, as did Salmon Spray (1965/66 season) and Comedy Of Errors (1974/75 season).
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Also among the entries for the Boylesports.com International are JCB Triumph Hurdle victor Celestial Halo, Grade Two Ascot Hurdle winner Chomba Womba, Serabad, Khyber Kim, River Liane and Harchibald, who won the equivalent of the Boylesports.com International in 2005.
The Charles Byrnes-trained Solwhit has also been entered. The four-year-old, winner of the Leopardstown November Handicap on the Flat last month, joined the Irish handler in the spring, having begun his career in France.
Solwhit has won three of his four starts over hurdles, most recently when a cosy three quarters of a length victor of a competitive two-mile handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse on November 29.
Byrnes said: “We will monitor the situation and make a decision closer to the day. As things stand, he has a lot to make up on a few of those horses. If a few come out we may let him take his chance.
“The handicapper put him up a stone for his last win, so he will find it impossible in handicaps now. He has no choice but to step up in grade. There is good prize money on offer in the Boylesports.com International so we will consider it.
“The ground does not make much difference to him. My horse is rated 141 while Katchit is rated 166. We have a long way to go before we get to that level but he is only a four-year-old and he is a nice horse. If we do run him in the Boylesports.com International, we will know what we are dealing with.”
Latest Boylesports prices: Binocular 7/4 (from 9/4), Chomba Womba 3/1, Katchit 7/2, Crack Away Jack 4/1, Harchibald 10/1, Celestial Halo 10/1, River Liane 14/1, Solwhit 16/1, Khyber Kim 25/1, Serabad 25/1, Won In The Dark 33/1
Leon Blanche, spokesman for Boylesports, said: “Binocular opened at 9/4 today but we have had to cut him to 7/4 following sustained support.
“Punters seem to be putting all their faith in the red-hot Nicky Henderson/Tony McCoy combination.”
The feature contest on day one of the Boylesports International, Friday, December 12, is the £100,000 Listed Boylepoker.com Handicap Chase (1.55pm) staged over three miles, one and a half furlongs. The action on the seven-race card also includes the popular Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase, which takes place at 1.20pm.
GROUND UPDATE
The going at Cheltenham ahead of the Boylesports International is good to soft, soft in places on the chase and hurdles courses. The cross-country course is soft, heavy in places.
Cheltenham’s Clerk of the Course Simon Claisse will deploy ground covers to guard against frost ahead of the Boylesports International, which commences on Friday.
He said: “We will cover all take-offs and landings, as well as all cross-overs. We will take a view tomorrow as to whether or not we fully cover the chase and hurdles courses. A lot depends on whether we get cloud cover on Thursday night and at the moment, there is a question mark hanging over whether that will materialise.”
