Paul Townend: I think State Man can finish the season on a winning note
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Ladbrokes ambassador Paul Townend previews his five rides at the Punchestown Festival on Friday.
He is a course and distance winner on yielding ground. I am not sure the ground throughout the winter would have suited him. He will appreciate the spring air and spring ground. He got experience in a Grade 1 at Limerick and again at the Dublin Racing Festival. He wasn’t at Cheltenham, Fairyhouse, or Aintree, and comes here fresh.
The G1 he ran in at Leopardstown had a lot of winners come out of it – Gaillard Du Mesnil and I Am Maximus to name two. I have gone with the fresh angle and the nicer ground will suit. Hopefully he can show us what we thought he was in his younger days.
She was a runner-up on her last two outings. She takes on Impervious and Instit again, the two mares that beat her. I don’t know how we can improve past Impervious. I thought everything went pretty well for us at Cheltenham. We looked like the winner when we landed in front at the back of the last and she outbattled us that day.
I thought I underperformed at Fairyhouse and I am taking a chance that she has freshened up since then. I think Impervious will take all the beating but I hope I can turn the form around with Instit at least.
Thankfully we don’t have Constitution Hill to take on this time. I know I beat the rest of them nicely at Cheltenham but to be honest I wasn’t that happy throughout the race. Hopefully he can beat all these again and I would expect him to. He has been the best of the Irish two-mile hurdlers throughout the year and I think he can finish the season on a winning note.
He was another impressive Cheltenham winner. I hope he can back that up again and keep winning on the track. He doesn’t show a whole lot at home and that is well documented. He definitely shows it on the course. He has won around here in the Moscow Flyer.
I suppose going right-handed will suit Champ Kiely and could bring him closer to us and Punchestown can suit front runners better than Cheltenham. High Definition steps up in trip here and that will be interesting.
As we seen with Energumene, it is not a case of just turning up. You don’t know how much these races have left a mark until you get to the racecourse. However, Impaire Et Passe is looking very good.
Uncle Phil isn’t one of my stronger rides of the week. He is coming back off a break and hasn’t run since November. He was beaten a long way that day but the break might have done him the world of good. The ground will suit him and he is starting off for a summer campaign and hopefully he can build on whatever he does here.
