Robbie Power: “Leopardstown or Gowran Will Host Sizing John Return”

Jockey Robbie Power has sounded a positive update on his Gold Cup-winning partner Sizing John, who has now been off track for over a year.

The 9-year-old’s first appearance since Christmas 2017 continues to be hampered by good ground conditions but Power wrote in his BoyleSports blog on Monday that he is looking forward to getting him back into competitive action next month.

He said: “He’s in fantastic form. I rode him at the Curragh on Friday,

we were extremely happy with him and I drove home with a big smile on my face.

His options are the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown or the Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park. I don’t mind where he goes but we just need to get a run into him as he’ll probably only get one between now and the Gold cup.”

Power also said that Fox Norton is likely to be aimed at the Ryanair Chase and is not going to take on Altior again at the Cheltenham Festival.
Nicky Henderson’s star comfortably saw him off in the Clarence House Chase at the weekend when registering his 17th consecutive victory and Fox Norton is now likely to swerve the Champion Chase despite having a previous close 2nd on his CV.

Power said:

At Cheltenham it won’t be a problem but the only concern with Altior is why he was jumping left.

“I’m sure Nicky Henderson will delve into that but it was a very good performance and there’s no doubting he’s the best horse in training at the moment.”

“I was delighted with Fox Norton and he’ll probably go to the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury before we make a decision. It’s very unlikely we’ll have another crack at Altior but we know he stays well so the Ryanair is a strong possibility.”

Read Robbie Power’s latest blog post in full here.

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