Willie Mullins has strong hand for novice hurdles

Trying to figure out a way to beat the best of what Willie Mullins has for the novice hurdles is almost impossible. It was the same story again at Punchestown on Sunday where Donnas Palm duly finished second in the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle behind Mikael D"Haguenet which is exactly what I had expected. The ground was very sticky and it didn"t really suit Donnas Palm, I"m sure when we see him again, on different ground, that we will see a completely different horse as he"s much better on good ground. Allowing for the fact that we didn"t win the race, I suppose I was happy enough with the performance. Although he finished second, Watson Lake got very tired in the two-mile chase, but it"s interesting because for some strange reason he"s not as good around Punchestown as he is at other tracks. I can"t understand it, but that"s the way he is. Paul Carberry said it after the race, that Watson doesn"t feel the same around Punchestown so hopefully he will bounce back. He may run in the Red Mills, it depends how he is over the next few days. I was surprised that Big Zeb fell, it"s not a great way to be going to Cheltenham, after a fall like that, but that"s what the fences are for, they have to be jumped. However, he looked like was going to win the race easily, but the winner, Mansony, found plenty and might just have held on, even if Big Zeb had stood up. Clarnazar was a big disappointment in the handicap hurdle, Paul said he just didn"t like the ground going down to the start and he just didn"t want to know, he finished a long way last, not a good day for him anyway. I sent Sigma Digital to run in a novice chase at Limerick, I couldn"t find a suitable race for him anywhere else and he stayed on well to finish fourth, he would be worth watching when the ground gets better. There"s a great entry for the Aintree Grand National and if Denman runs we will probably run Afistfullofdollars because he should get in with a nice weight Silver Birch is also entered, I was talking to his trainer, Gordon Elliott last week and he said he was pleased with the way the horse was coming along. He was due to run him in a point-to-point at Nenagh last Saturday, but that was postponed until this weekend. I"m sure Gordon will be anxious to get a run into him ahead of the Liverpool race. It"s not easy bringing a horse back after a long absence and Silver Birch is a 12-year-old now, he hasn"t got time on his side. One horse that I think would have a big chance at Liverpool is Jim Dreaper"s Notre Pere, he could get in on a nice weight, he jumps well and he stays, he"s almost an ideal horse for a race like that. If either Denman or War Of Attrition stay in, it will leave the likes of Notre Pere and other horses with a high rating, like Afistfullofdollars, he"s rated 157, with a better chance. The Association of Irish Racehorse Owners has introduced a third party insurance plan which is incorporated in the annual membership fee. I believe that the cover extends to Ireland and England. In the event of an incident where a horse might get loose and cause damage or injury, the owner would be covered for potential claims, but it does not cover injury to an employee of the member or injury to a horse. I"m sure all the members of the owners" association will be informed of the specific details, but it is a very good idea. It offers protection from claims if a horse kicks a third party either in the parade ring or going out of it, or even if the horse gets spooked and kicks out. Take the example of a faller on the track during a race which could get back into the enclosure. There are so many things that can happen, especially a horse with blinkers which can only see straight ahead. The owner would be liable and this type of insurance policy is most welcome. I think all this came around over an unfortunate incident which happened in the parade ring at Wolverhampton about four years ago, I think the owner of one of the horses was declared bankrupt subsequently. The action this week, if we have any, starts with Down Royal on Wednesday. Hopefully, we could see the re-appearance of Leading Run which hasn"t run since January 2008 due to a tendon problem. He"s in a winners" race, it"s a good enough hurdle, but it"s not easy to find something for him and he likes going right-handed. While he has been off for over 12 months, he is in real good form and I would be hopeful of a positive performance. He was a very promising horse and won his first five races, he won four bumpers, but he was too old to run in the Champion bumper at Cheltenham in 2006. He won the Irish equivalent at Punchestown a month later when he beat the Cheltenham winner, Hairy Molly. The tendon problem wasn"t too serious, but it held him up for a long time and we are looking forward to his return to action. I might also run Atriptothelocal in a chase and Master Cullen could go for the bumper. Outlaw Kid will be going to Clonmel on Thursday for a bumper. An Innocent Man is likely to run either day, he was only beaten by Cousin Vinny and Academy Sir Harry in his two bumpers last year, but will now go over hurdles and he could be worth watching, he jumps well and stays. Nicanor will run at Naas on Saturday, I hope, he"s in good shape and has worked well over the past few weeks, if all goes well for him he will be back on the track. At Leopardstown on Sunday there is the big novice hurdle, I believe Willie Mullins is going to run Hurricane Fly, I"m not sure what I will send there. It might be too short for Pandorama, but no matter what happens, it will be very difficult to beat Hurricane Fly. I might run Parsons Pistol if the ground is very heavy, which is likely, and Afistfullofdollars will go for the Hennessy before we find out the weights for Aintree next Tuesday. Visit Noel Meade"s website: www.nolemeade.com