Paul Townend on Sunday rides and Melbourne Cup
Published:
Jockey and Ladbrokes ambassador Paul Townend assesses the chances of his three rides at Cork on Sunday and looks ahead to the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.
She has some decent bumper form throughout the summer, rounding off at Gowran in September where she was six and a half lengths behind Aurora Vega. That is very good form. We are fit and ready to go.
We are taking on two point-to-point winners from the Henry De Bromhead and Gordon Elliott stables. They are both well-related mares, so they warrant a lot of respect. They have jumping experience, we don’t but we have race fitness, so it’ll be a good clash. We like her and her schooling has been fine. She is there to take her chance in a hot maiden.
He has been busy throughout the summer but was a bit disappointing at Listowel over two and a half miles the last day. The drop back in trip there wasn’t ideal for him. He had to make his own pace and the other horses just quickened by him. He was probably beaten further than he should have been or deserved to be.
His run before that at Galway suited him better with the staying track, where he ran behind The Big Doyen. He has to give weight to everything, but this looks a nice opportunity. I think he sets the standard on what he has achieved so far. The ground is slower than what he has encountered before but we think he can handle it. I think he is my best ride of the day.
He was a fortunate winner at Listowel. He looked beaten when JP’s horse made a mistake at the last but he capitalised on it. That horse was rated 128 so it was a nice level of form. We think he can be a nicer chaser than hurdler. He was a bit disappointing as a hurdler in the sense that he promised a lot but never fulfilled that. Hopefully chasing can bring about that improvement in him.
It will have to as Joseph O’Brien’s Solness, who is rated 138, sets a good level of form. Gavin Cromwell’s Letsbeclearaboutit was good winner at Gowran last time out, beating Largy Debut. Those two will take the beating. I know John Ryan is fond of Lucid Dreams and will change tactics so I expect him to be in the shake-up as well.
Everyone in the yard is really looking forward to seeing how Vauban and Absurde get on in the Melbourne Cup. The reports from David Casey are that they couldn’t be in better form. I have won on Vauban in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham, and I won a hurdle race on Absurde in the summer. I will be watching them with interest, wishing them the best of luck, and hopefully one of them can bring home a very special prize.
