Leopardstown Christmas Festival Day Two
5 min read
BetVictor Brand Ambassador Rachael Blackmore looks back on a sensational St. Stephen’s Day performance at Leopardstown and gives us the low down on her five rides booked for day two.
Day 1 Review
“I had an unbelievable first day riding a Grade 1 winner for Gigginstown, which I was delighted to do. They’ve been so good to me throughout my career since I was a claimer, so I was delighted to be able to repay them with a Grade 1 winner on Notebook.
He was very impressive as was Aspire Tower, so it was a dream to get two Leopardstown winners on St. Stephen’s Day.”
Notebook wins the Racing Post Novice Chase for Henry De Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore, beating Fakir D’oudairies into second with Laurina well beaten pic.twitter.com/W8HQ0Iit1D
— Racing Post (@RacingPost) December 26, 2019
Day 2 Preview
“My first ride is for Henry, Soloheadbeg in the 3-year-old hurdle at 12.05. He was 3rd the first day at Gowran and was a little bit disappointing the last day but hopefully he’ll run well.
My next ride is Capuccimix in the Beginners Chase (12.35). He’s definitely going to be a better chaser than he was hurdler, as he showed the last day when he was 2nd to Willie Mullins’ Cash Back in a Beginners Chase in Navan. He seems to enjoy jumping and he’s going well at home so hopefully he can put in a good round here and he should not be too far away.
In the Grade 1 (13.10) I have A Plus Tard, a horse that’s been very good to me as he gave me my first Cheltenham winner. He’s taking on Chacun Pour Soi here who obviously has looked extremely impressive, but my lad has done very little wrong so I’m very much looking forward to riding him and he should definitely be involved at the business end.
Moving on to the 14.20 Handicap Hurdle where I ride Moon Over Germany. He last ran over hurdles in 2016 but he’s back over hurdles here today. He’s rated higher over fences so if he could exploit his hurdles mark he won’t be too far away.
It’s going to be a very competitive Handicap Hurdle, as they always are at Leopardstown over Christmas, but he’s going well at home and Henry’s horses are in fantastic form so I’d like to think he’ll be there in the shake-up.
My last ride of the day is the 14.55 Paddy Power Chase. Here I’m on Poker Party for Henry again. He’s a Kerry National Winner, but you can make a case for any number of these horses and you’re going to need a lot of luck in a race like this. My lad likes to take his time, and we’ll probably ride him the same as we did in Listowel. I’d be expecting a very big run out of him again and with a bit of luck he won’t be too far away.
Odds
Soloheadbeg (12.05)
Capuccimix (12.35)
A Plus Tard (13.10)
Moon Over Germany (14.20)
Poker Party (14.55)
Thanks again to Rachael and we wish her every success on Friday!
