Young horse left Paul on the sideline

Paul Carberry was sidelined last week, but it wasn"t as a result of a hunting accident. He had been out with the Ward Union and when he got home he took a young horse of his own out which duly bucked him off. Paul was wary of him, but the horse got his way. Paul landed on his shoulder and there was a lot of bruising, so he had to miss a few days and it turned out to be costly enough for him. I had to make alternative arrangements for the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday. I was lucky enough to be able to get Barry Geraghty who got off River Liane to ride Muirhead, but by the time the race came around, Paul was okay again. Under the circumstances, we left Barry on Muirhead and Paul was back in action after that race and rode a winner. Barry looked like he was going to win on Muirhead going to the last, but I suppose Brave Inca is well named. It was a superb performance by the horse and the trainer and I was delighted with Muirhead which will now go directly to Cheltenham, if everything works out satisfactorily in the meantime. I"m convinced that Muirhead will improve from that run, he"s a young horse, he"s not easy to train. He doesn"t give himself a great chance because he"s not a great horse to eat up. For that reason we have to be very careful, that we don"t do too much with him. We have to monitor his weight, watch that he doesn"t lose too much weight, we weigh him everyday and work him accordingly. It"s something that will probably improve as he gets older and we probably have to see the best of him yet. Sunday was a good day for the owners of Muirhead because they got some consolation for that setback when Chateau D"eau won. However, as much as everybody else likes and admires Brave Inca, and for an 11-year-old you have to give credit where it"s due, I"m sick to the teeth of him. I say that with as much humour as I can muster because that was the fifth time that one of mine was beaten by Brave Inca in a big race. He beat Muirhead on Sunday, he beat Iktitaf in the December Hurdle at Leopardstown in 2006 and a few weeks before that got the better of Rosaker in the Hatton"s Grace at Fairyhouse. Prior to that he got the better of Harchibald in the 2005 December Hurdle and also in the Champion Hurdle at Punchestown the previous April. Tony McCoy was on board Brave Inca on that occasion and I have to mention his marvellous achievement last week when he took his career tally of winners to 3,000. I think about a dozen of those were on the flat, but the rest were over the jumps. It"s almost unbelievable that he has such determination and commitment, he is prepared to go around all the tracks and it doesn"t matter whether it"s a big race at Cheltenham or a £2,000 seller at the likes of Musselburgh on a Monday, he puts in a huge effort. He must be made of steel, he has had his fair share of injuries, but he has never missed a season. That leads me on to another point, a complaint of sorts, and one which I think needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. I"m not in favour of the current trend whereby an interviewer is on hand for one of the television companies, armed with a mic, ready to conduct an instant interview with the winning jockey on the way back to the winners" enclosure. It"s unfair on the jockey, but it"s also unfair on the trainer and the owner as well. You will notice it at Cheltenham especially, I suppose they would interview the horse if they could? I"m fully prepared to talk to the media, but I think the current practice is getting out of hand. I"m impressed with the way RTE have it set up, and it works fine at places like Fairyhouse, Leopardstown and Galway, for example. The jockey is interviewed after he has weighed-in, by that time he will have had a chance to talk to the trainer and the owner. Maybe it"s something that needs to be considered? Looking at last Sunday"s Arkle Chase, only four runners might suggest that there aren"t too many quality chasers around, but sometimes that"s just the way things work out. At the start of the season I was concerned about how I would keep the likes of Aran Concerto and Nicanor apart and avoid some of the good horses from the likes of Willie Mullins. Aran won once, but he won"t be ready in time for Cheltenham and will be aimed at some of the top races here before the end of the season. The Powers Gold Cup at Easter will be the main objective. Nicanor hasn"t run yet and there"s probably similar stories with other trainers, it"s a sort of movable feast in a way. I couldn"t believe that Oscar Looby was sent off as the favourite for a hurdle race at Navan on Saturday. I couldn"t understand that one at all because Willie Mullins looked to have a strong hand with Kempes and that"s how it turned out. I was talking to Willie about it and he was worried about the ground and also about how Kempes might jump. That might have left the owners doubtful and it may have put people off, but Kempes won well. The going at Gowran on Thursday was very tough, Cleni Boy couldn"t handle it at all and Mattock Ranger just downed tools completely, he wouldn"t go, but then a lot of the other horses didn"t show up too prominently either. It was probably due to the ground, it was very bad, the worst I"ve seen for some time and there"s not a thing anyone can do about it. Across The Bay got an exceptionally good ride from Barry Geraghty to win at Fairyhouse on Friday, but he will probably be better over three miles. He didn"t jump well and I found that strange because he is very good at home. Watson Lake was disappointing also, maybe they went too quick for him, but he might go to Punchestown next Sunday along with Go Native which may contest a novice hurdle. Fairyhouse will have more racing on Saturday, if the ground improves I could run Assigh Pearl in a bumper and Archiestown in a maiden hurdle. Further down the road, the Hennessy meeting at Leopardstown in a fortnight could see Casey Jones going for the Moriarty Chase. Parsons Pistol is unlikely to run and will go directly to Cheltenham. I"m not sure what I will run in the novice hurdle, it will be a case of trying to avoid Willie Mullins. A Fistfulofdollars will go for the big race, the Hennessy, provided he works well this week. Then he could be aimed at the Aintree Grand National, especially if Denman is entered because that would guarantee a reasonable weight for us, and everyone else. Visit Noel Meade"s website: www.noelmeade.com