Double at Naas was a great welcome back

I probably picked the worst day of the year, weather-wise, to make my return to the racecourse, but I certainly enjoyed Naas last Saturday. Of course, the fact that we had two winners was also a big help. It was great to be out again and I"m certainly feeling much better, but I couldn"t believe the amount of people who greeted me and seemed to be pleased to see me back in action again. I was thrilled with Aitmatov, I wasn"t surprised that he won, but he had never beaten Clopf before, I think they have raced against each other four times now and that was our first win. Clopf went to the front on Saturday and got very tired while Aitmatov kept going despite a horrendous mistake at the last, he took the hurdle out of the ground, but he stayed on well. The conditions were so bad, it was so windy, that one of the advertising hoardings blew across the track and just missed one of the runners in the race that Aitmatov won. After that race we had a meeting with some of the stewards about the conditions and the jockeys, but everyone agreed to continue and the conditions eased slightly for a while. I suppose we were lucky to get through the card, but unfortunately Fairyhouse didn"t fare as well on Sunday. Parsons Pistol also showed some good form at Naas. He stays well and has a good engine, he will improve as he gets older and could actually be an Aintree Grand National horse in the future, but not just yet though. He will be entered in the two staying chases at Cheltenham and his owner, Robert Bagnall, would be delighted to have a runner at the Festival anyway. Soft ground will be important for him and he probably won"t run before Cheltenham because he will need plenty of time to recover from that win at Naas. I was also pleased with Realt Dubh, he is a good horse and has only been beaten by two very good horses from the Willie Mullins stable. He should be a contender in some of the novice races later on, especially if we can avoid Willie"s horses. Overall, the ground at Naas was very bad and the horses finished very tired, so time is what they will need now to recover properly. Last Thursday, I just happened to be watching the race at Taunton where the jockey, James Davies, fell off Topless about 20 yards before the winning post with the race at his mercy. It was absolutely incredible. I understand that this type of thing can happen and it"s very unfortunate for the jockey, but it was hard to believe that anyone could have fallen off as easily as it appeared. I had it recorded and I looked at replays, the only conclusion I could draw was that the jockey was really tired. Now, unless you have ridden a horse in a race you won"t understand that, but his legs may actually have given in because he was after giving the horse a good ride up to that point in a three-mile, three-furlong chase. However, it wasn"t an easy ride and when the horse ducked to the right, the jockey just fell off. It was most unusual. To be able to ride over fences as well as he does leaves it even more difficult to believe, but that"s the way it goes in racing, nothing is certain. Marathon runners would probably have some understanding about the legs going, turning to jelly, it can happen. I remember an incident at Cork many years ago, Young Tim Hyde was riding what looked like would be a winner, he got to within a 150 yards of the post and the horse just ducked, dropped him and went back in the opposite direction. Talking about horses that nearly won races brings Outlaw Kid at Thurles last Thursday into the picture. He almost got there for Paul, the other horses got tired and although Paul was out-paced in the home straight, he stayed on well. It was encouraging for everyone after he fell at the first hurdle at Leopardstown last month, the Thurles race will bring him on and we might actually try to win a bumper with him now. I was also pleased for Joanna Morgan who had a winner in Dubai last Thursday, it would have been a great boost to her as she is recovering from a broken leg at the moment and had to watch the action at home. It was a fantastic prize to win and good planning by her to send the horse over a few weeks ago to get acclimatised. Travelling long distances with a horse now is not as challenging as it used to be and they also seem to adapt more easily. It could be that the flights are better now, I"m not sure. It would also have been sad for Joanna with the passing of Fr Sean Breen last week, I was at his funeral on Sunday night. He was a member of the syndicate that had One Won One with Joanna and many people will miss him. Looking forward to the big race at Gowran this week, the Thyestes Chase on Thursday, I will have Mattock Ranger and Cleni Boy for that one. Mattock is getting fitter and should give a good performance and I just might try blinkers on Cleni Boy, he worked well the other day and might cause a surprise. However, I think the man to watch in this one is Tony Martin. He will have Dun Doire and Newbay Prop, both of them could be prominent. Navan on Saturday will have a restriction on numbers with the maximum reduced to 20, I"d say that"s an attempt to save the ground a little bit because normally they can take 30 runners in a maiden hurdle. I"m not sure what I will run in the hurdle races just yet, but West Of The Border could be the one to watch in the bumper, he likes soft ground and he stays well. Nicanor will not run at Leopardstown on Sunday, it won"t be too long before we see him on the track, it might be the following weekend. He"s going well at home, Paul schooled him over fences last week and he jumped great, so fingers crossed on that one. The only runner I will have in the Champion Hurdle on Sunday at Leopardstown is Muirhead, the ground will not suit Harchibald at the moment anyway. Muirhead is in good shape and hopefully we will get him to the track in good order. With Fairyhouse now on Friday, Navan on Saturday and Leopardstown on Sunday, there will be plenty of action to keep everyone happy. And then there"s not that long to go before Cheltenham starts. Visit Noel Meade"s website: www.noelmeade.com