Robbie Power On The Fighting Fifth, Supasundae & Sizing John’s Plans

I rode in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle on Saturday and a lot of people were saying that it was a slowly-run race.

Fighting Fifth
Okay, we didn’t go at a mad gallop, but I thought from when we passed the winning post first time we went at a nice even gallop all the way.

Buveur D’Air was just something special on the day, he was unbelievably impressive.

We were in a good gallop from a mile and a half at least and the front two pulled well clear – both Samcro and Buveur D’Air. I don’t think it turned into the sprint that everyone reckons it did, I just think the best horse won on the day. I don’t think whatever way the race was run on the day that Samcro would have beaten Buveur D’Air.

There’s an old saying – “you should never be afraid of one horse.” The O’Learys are keen to win a Champion Hurdle. They’ve made this decision now and who’s to know that something mightn’t go wrong with Buveur D’Air, that he’d be favourite for the Champion Hurdle.

It’ll be very interesting to see what he does at Christmas. He’s obviously going to turn up in the Ryanair Hurdle at Christmas and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares out there.

Barry Geraghty’s a top-class rider and he’s been on top of his game for a long, long time. Good horses make good jockeys and he’s been riding good horses all his life. I don’t think, for one second, that he ever doubted himself at all.

Fairyhouse On Sunday
Jetz ran a cracker in the Drinmore and finished third. It wasn’t a strongly-run race, we didn’t go a great gallop. He was a little bit keen and got a bump early on when Dawn Shadow fell and it just lit him up a little bit.

But he ran a good race with two good horses in front of him – Le Richebourg and Delta Work.

It was his third run in three weeks so he’ll probably have a little bit of a break now and reappear after Christmas.

As for the race itself, we quickened up from three out but we didn’t go a hectic gallop. You look back at the race and we were all still in a heap, jumping the third last. A strongly-run race over two and a half would suit Delta Work better.

I was delighted with Supasundae who finished second in the Hatton’s Grace.

He ran a cracking race and it was similar enough to how he ran in that race last year. We went a hell of a gallop in this race, that did ride a proper race. From the minute we jumped the second hurdle, there wasn’t a horse on the bridle. I was delighted with Supasundae, he took two good blows throughout the race. We knew going there he was going to take the run and, hopefully, he’ll improve plenty for it.

He’s the sort of horse you’d never get fit at home so he was always going to take his first run. The plan is for him to go to Leopardstown at Christmas. He’s entered in the Ryanair Hurdle and the Three Mile Hurdle as well so we’ll keep our options open. The likelihood is that he’ll probably go to the Three Mile Hurdle but we’ll see between now and Christmas.

The Royal Bond was a bit like the Drinmore in that it wasn’t run at a hectic pace. I was second in a race that Quick Grabim was fourth in in Navan. He jumped out yesterday and dictated the race from the front. Whether he’ll be a Supreme Novices’ horse, I don’t know, but he’s a Grade One winner now and I’m sure the Mullins camp are delighted with that.

Sizing John
He was second in the Two Miler at Christmas before in his first run for us, he was second in an Arkle, he was third in a Supreme Novices’.

He has plenty of class and I’d imagine the Two Miler is the race he’ll go for again.

It’s a tough ask for a horse that’s been off the track for exactly a year to have his first run back over three miles. We’re lucky with him in that he’s not your typical three miler that has to have three miles to be at his best. He can still go in at two miles and do his stuff.

He’s in fantastic form and his work will be stepping up every week between now and Christmas. Hopefully we’ll get a clear run between now and Christmas and we can get him started again. We’re looking forward to getting him back on the track.