• Big race gamble revealed to have bruised foot
• Trainer hopeful colt will line up in weekend Classic
Rip Van Winkle, second favourite at around 4-1 for the 2,000 Guineas, is a doubt for the first Classic of the season at Newmarket on Saturday after bruising his foot at Aidan O’Brien’s yard yesterday morning.
O’Brien told the Racing Post last night that Rip Van Winkle had “pulled out sore this morning, and when we took the shoe off one of his front legs, we found a stone bruise.” He added: “We think that he is going to be fine and that he will be able to run on Saturday, but we will have to wait and see how he is over the next few days before taking a decision.”
The weight of money for the son of Galileo in recent days had suggested that he would be the chosen mount of Johnny Murtagh, O’Brien’s stable jockey. However, Murtagh may now be aboard Mastercraftsman, a dual Group One winner last year.
Rip Van Winkle was off for nearly three months last season having won a Group Three event at Leopardstown in late July. He then finished seventh to Intense Focus in the Dewhurst Stakes, after being held up from a poor draw.
Delegator, the 7-2 favourite for the Guineas, was among 24 acceptors at yesterday’s five-day stage. Ouqba, the Free Handicap winner, was supplemented to the field at a cost of £30,000, while Naaqoos, a leading fancy for much of the winter, has been withdrawn.
“Delegator has continued to work very well since the Craven and we were delighted with his last piece of work this morning,” Brian Meehan, the colt’s trainer, said in a statement on his website yesterday. “However, we do have a real concern about fast ground at Newmarket. If [the forecast rain] does not materialise to any great extent, we will walk the course to see how things look before making a decision.”
There seems little doubt that Newmarket will do all they can to ensure suitable ground, however.
“We watered on Monday and Friday last week, and we are in a position where if it doesn’t rain sufficiently, we would irrigate to make sure we had a decent, fast racing surface,” Michael Prosser, Newmarket’s director of racing, said yesterday. “If that’s what we need to do, we will do it.”
Hurricane Fly, whose form suggests he is the best novice hurdler for several seasons, will attempt to confirm himself a champion when he lines up for the first time since Christmas on the opening day of the five-day Punchestown Festival this afternoon.
Willie Mullins’ five-year-old has won both his starts in Grade One races since arriving in Ireland from France last autumn, and one more impressive success today would surely see him head the market for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham next March.
Soft ground will test Hurricane Fly’s fitness after his four-month layoff, though, as Punchestown has been drenched in recent days. “I’m happy with his work at home and we have done our best to get him right so hopefully he is OK,” Mullins said yesterday. “It’s a bit of a disadvantage coming here without a run but some of the other horses have probably had too many runs and hopefully we are better.”