Thistlecrack The One To Beat But Pressure Is On

I was delighted with Ivanovich Gorbatov’s run in Thursday’s Ryanair Hurdle at Leoparstown, he ran a real blinder.

Ivanovich Gorbatov
I would say on ratings, it was at least to his mark, if not a couple of lbs better.

The plan for him is pretty simple, we’ll be sticking to the good two mile hurdles and pick up as much prize money as possible this season.

I must say, Petit Mouchoir looked good in that race. He jumped, went a good gallop and kept it up all the way. It was a huge performance and I don’t even think Bryan Cooper expected him to go that far clear. Very impressive.

Thistlecrack
Leopardstown was a great week’s racing and we got to see some Gold Cup contenders in the Lexus Chase but the one name that impressed me most ran on Monday, Thistlecrack.

He is the one they have to beat and you certainly wouldn’t be swapping him for anything at the minute.

He’s a very brave horse but that’s his style. If he was very brave but he didn’t have the scope that he has then you’d be worried but he has shown that he’s got all the scope in the world so he can afford to be brave.

I was asked recently if I’d like to ride him and the answer is obviously, yes I would love to ride him but he comes with plenty of pressure so I think I’ll leave that to Tom Scudamore and I’ll concentrate on the training!

3 Year Olds
This week was a good opportunity for some of the 3 year-olds in the yard and I think with a Grade 2 win and Grade 2 place, Landofhopeandglory is the best of them so far.

To be fair to Housesofparliament, he had been off the track for a while and that mistake three from home is not something I’m worried about. We have a long road to go and we have big targets for him.

Overall we were happy with how they ran over Christmas and we’re looking forward to the season ahead with both of them.