Paul Townend excited about Facile Vega’s chances
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Ladbrokes ambassador and leading jockey Paul Townend examines the chances of his three rides at Navan on Saturday.
This is a typical competitive maiden hurdle with all the top yards well represented. My horse ran a big race behind Ballyburn at the Punchestown Festival back in April. He is a point-to-point winner so two-and-a-half miles shouldn’t be a problem to him. I think he will make a nice novice hurdler.
I think Gordan Elliott’s Stellar Story who beat Ile Atlantique in a bumper last year is one to look out for. We saw how impressive Ile Atlantique was at Gowran last week. That is the standard of race we are running in from here onwards. I am looking forward to getting Dancing City going and I think he will make a smart novice hurdler for the rest of the season.
The conditions of this race actually suit him quite well. It’s his first run out of novice company. He ran into El Fabiolo a couple of times last year and I don’t think he lost anything in defeat to him. He is a forward-going horse and this is a nice place to start him off.
It is typical of all of Willie Mullins’ horses at this time of the season; there is a bit to work on with them. It will be interesting to see how he holds up out of novice company. Captain Guinness won the race last year and is the highest rated horse here. We are getting 9lbs off him so that will be a help.
This is one of the most exciting novice chasers we have to pull out. I had a very good season last year bar the defeat at Dublin Racing Festival and in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham but we rounded off the year winning a Grade 1 at Punchestown. He looks really good. His schooling has gone well and he did well throughout the summer. He is ready to get going now and touch wood he has the makings of a really nice novice chaser for the year ahead.
It is a competitive race though and he won’t have it all his own way. Inthepocket is an Aintree Grade 1 winner for Henry De Bromhead and is shaping like a horse going the right way. Gordon Elliott is well represented as well. It is exciting to get him back on track and he is my best ride of the day.
