Equinties - knock out Punchestown

Gm Equinauts

A nice day of ‘watching’ yesterday. Often the best thing to do in this game is nothing at all.

It could be tempting to pick tools up today however, for the rockets are ‘home’.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

A KNOCK OUT PUNCHESTOWN

Yes, the Flat is back, and yes, the Guineas is near, but the jumps boys still have plenty to look forward to - Ayr’s card looks somewhat interesting today, as does tomorrow’s Scottish Grand National fixture, Sandown Finale Day could be a belter between Willie Mullins and Dan Skelton, and Punchestown looks pretty tasty based on yesterday’s entries.

A few of the major headlines from yesterday’s entries include CONSTITUTION HILL in the Boodles Champion Hurdle, FACT TO FILE only in the William Hill Champion Chase, MARINE NATIONALE also in the Grade 1 two-mile chase, and GAELIC WARRIOR in both the Champion Chase and Punchestown Gold Cup.

Oh, and Jeremy Scott has only entered GOLDEN ACE, the reigning Champion Hurdle victor (still feels weird), for the Boodles Champion Hurdle, meaning she won’t run in the Mares Champion Hurdle.

So, what is there to focus on? Let’s start with CONSTITUTION HILL.

According to Nicky Henderson, the 2023 Champion Hurdle winner is “as fresh as paint” and “it is our intention to come to Punchestown”, so if we are to believe the boss of Seven Barrows, we can start to get excited.

That being said, he wasn’t sworn in before making these quotes, and we can guarantee he didn’t have his hand on the Holy Bible either.

As we said after Aintree, there is this element of doubt regarding CONSTIUTION HILL now. There may have been a smidge of it before Aintree, but if you didn’t believe it then, you can certainly believe it now.

Still, there are certain ex-jockey pundits who think Aintree will further sharpen him up.

Hopefully, he gets to Punchestown and has an on-song BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD to take on, though she also has an entry for the Mares Champion Hurdle, as does LOSSIEMOUTH. Still, at least there’s STATE MAN to worry about!

Elsewhere, FACT TO FILE in the Champion Chase is very, very interesting. Certain profiles had suggested this would occur on Racing X, but having bolted up in the Ryanair, we couldn’t see Willie Mullins actually pulling the trigger on this plan. Furthermore, the boss of Closuton said he’s a Gold Cup horse in time, further adding fuel to the fire that he may go to the Punchestown Gold Cup!

But, if he is to race at Punchestown, a clash against MARINE NATIONALE is his only option. Very, very interesting. Does this mean he is still a Gold Cup horse for next year? Does this plant the seeds of doubt regarding his stamina? Mullins bingo the never ending game!

Finally, GAELIC WARRIOR got entries for both Grade 1 chases. SEND HIM TO THE PUNCHESTOWN GOLD CUP, WILLIE!

If, and this is a big if, we are to believe that he was still slightly behind when he won the Bowl at Aintree, surely the run under his belt, coming back right-handed, and returning to a course he knows very well will suit him perfectly?

He could give GALOPIN DES CHAMPS and SPILLANE’S TOWER a right race, especially with the news that INOTHEWAYURTHINKIN is done for the season. Now, that could be another proper clash.

BIRCH IS BACK

Early last season, there was a progressive horse that made AUGUSTE RODIN look average. This horse didn’t win a Group 1 as a three-year-old – he didn’t even win a Group 2 – and yet, as a four-year-old, he easily dealt with the 2023 Derby winner in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup.

That horse was, of course, WHITE BIRCH.

He was very good at the Curragh in late May, so much so that he achieved an RPR of 125, which is pretty high. Unfortunately, he had setback after setback, and eventually, his trainer, John Murphy, pulled stumps on the season.

Well, he’s back, and according to his trainer, his injury issues are “all behind him”.

The Tattersalls Gold Cup is his ultimate aim, but he’s not heading straight to the race, which is a positive, as his trainer said: "He's in super form and we're very happy with him. We had him entered in the Alleged Stakes but we said we'd wait and start him in the Mooresbridge next month [May 5].

"We're looking forward to him. He looks great after the winter and is training very well. The plan is to go to the Mooresbridge and then on to the Tattersalls Gold Cup. We'll regroup after that and make a plan with the owners from there.

"He has options and could definitely go back over a mile and a half. He had nothing serious at all last season but it was just a few little things at the wrong time. They're all behind him and we're very happy with him."

He is a horse that needs to be watched this season. With hope that his injuries won’t affect him, he is still pretty unexposed based on both his three and four-year-old seasons.

Could he step up in trip? Could he be an Eclipse horse or maybe a horse for Royal Ascot? He’s certainly one to be excited about.

CELEBRE D’ALLEN

And finally, the BHA released the official post-mortem report of CELEBRE D’ALLEN yesterday, and the findings were different to what some people were expecting.

The full statement can be read on the BHA website, but for the benefit of clarity, we’ll include it here.

It read: "The findings of the post-mortem state that the exercise-associated episode experienced by the horse after the race had concluded by the time of death. 

"However, a severe bacterial respiratory infection [pleuropneumonia] had occurred post-race which led to the horse’s deterioration on Monday evening, with the subsequent onset of sepsis or endotoxaemia [the release of harmful substances into the bloodstream from bacteria] likely to have been a key factor in the cause of death.

"Blood tests taken from the day of the race indicate that the infection had not been present in the horse on raceday, and was therefore developed after the race.

"Further bloods taken on the Monday indicated a severely compromised immune system. These indications had not been present in the bloods taken on the day of the race. This indicates that this issue emerged subsequent to the race and the exercise-associated episode.

"The heart pathology found no issues which are likely to be significant in the death of the horse."

To summarise, it’s suggesting the 13-year-old collapsing after the Grand National did not directly cause his death; it was actually a severe bacterial respiratory infection that occurred after the race.

We think that’s a bit spurious.

More: https://www.britishhorseracing.com/press_releases/celebre-dallen-post-mortem-findings/

RISK ON

We have a shortlist for Newbury today but will post the plays on X @equinties

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