Paul Townend: Kemboy should enjoy nice ground at Fairyhouse
Published:
The Cheltenham Festival is just around the corner and Ladbrokes ambassador Paul Townend discusses the prospects of his three rides at Fairyhouse and Naas this weekend.
Saturday
Zenta is a new filly from France who I ride for JP McManus. She won a listed race in September. It was her only run over hurdles. The form of that race is unknown. It is usually a hotly-contested race and we like our horse and are looking forward to getting her going.
He has to be forgiven for his poor run at the Dublin Racing Festival, but his run in the Savills Chase at Christmas was really good. His form at Leopardstown seems to be better than anywhere else the last couple of seasons. He will enjoy the nice ground and I hope the drop back to nice company will help him.
Carefully Selected was a good winner of the Thyestes Chase and is going in the right direction, but I think the better ground will suit Kemboy more. This is calmer waters for him.
Sunday
He has been ultimately disappointing for us on his two runs. He ran ok the first day but regressed at Thurles the last day. We will probably ride him a little bit differently here and try something new. It looks a nice opportunity for him if we can find a little bit of improvement. His jumping seems to be getting better with each run which will be a help. He will need to make step forward here though.
