RACING: For the second time this season, Barry Geraghty has come in for a Grade One mount on Limestone Lad in Sunday's AIG Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown.
The Bowe family confirmed yesterday that Geraghty will again team up with the stayer who he rode to victory in last month's Hatton's Grace Hurdle.
"Barry won that race and he's a local fellah, so there's no great mystery to why we've picked him," Michael Bowe, son of permit holder James Bowe, said yesterday.
Limestone Lad was a solidly backed second favourite behind Intersky Falcon yesterday but Bowe insists he is feeling no pressure this time compared to his star's last AIG appearance three years ago.
"I felt awful pressure then and I ended up over training him. This time we have nothing to lose and we're expecting nothing.
"This is Plan B. Plan A was the Bank Of Ireland and then the Boyne Hurdle.
"So after Sunday we will just go back to Plan A. He will give it his best shot, but we've nothing to lose," Bowe said.
He added that he is not afraid of dry conditions this week and the Leopardstown manager Tom Burke said a relatively dry week would still leave the going no faster than yielding to soft.
"It is soft at the moment and the forecast is mainly dry for the rest of the week. If that holds it will certainly get no better than yielding to soft," he said.
The money yesterday was on the Willie Mullins-trained Davenport Milenium who was cut to 7 to 2 joint second favourite with Paddy Power.
The English raider Intersky Falcon continues to head the market and the weather forecast was good news for trainer Jonjo O'Neill who twice won the race as a jockey on Royal Vulcan (1983) and Dawn Run (1984). No jockey has been more successful in the AIG than Charlie Swan, however.
Four times a winner on Istabraq and also on Nordic Surprise in 1991, Swan will aim for number six on Like-A-Butterfly who is set to have her first start since April.
Scottish Memories was confirmed a definite AIG runner yesterday but his stable companion, Harbour Pilot, is not now going to run in tomorrow's IAWS Thyestes at Gowran.
Instead, Noel Meade will run The Bunny Boiler and Arctic Copper, leaving Harbour Pilot to go straight for the Hennessy.
It's not certain if the Thyestes topweight Foxchapel King will take his chance after trainer Mouse Morris walked the track. Morris admitted yesterday that the prospect of very testing conditions may tempt him to look instead at Saturday's Pillar Properties Chase at Cheltenham for his charge. "I won't be making my mind up until I have to declare him," he said yesterday.
Michael Hourigan said yesterday that a final decision on whether or not Beef Or Salmon runs in the Gold Cup this season won't be taken until days before the race.
The star novice also holds an entry in the SunAlliance Chase and remains on course to run next in the Hennessy.
"We will play it by ear, nothing will be certain until we get there," Hourigan said yesterday. "We haven't had any headaches since the Ericsson and we are looking forward to running him again."
Hourigan also hasn't ruled out a tilt at the Christies Foxhunters at the festival for his old stable star Dorans Pride.
The 14-year-old won a point to point at Kilfeacle last weekend and will run in another one this weekend.
"The last race wasn't a bad one. They put it up to him and he won it well. He'll run again this weekend and we'll see how he goes.
"He is enjoying himself and a horse like Dorans Pride wouldn't want to be left out in a field all day doing nothing.
"I owe him too much to do that. He was in training for 10 years and that's the routine he knows. It's too early for plans but he'll let us know what he wants to do," Hourigan said.
AIG BETTING: (Powers): 9-4 Intersky Falcon, 7-2 Limestone Lad and Davenport Milenium, 4 Like-A-Butterfly, 7 Scottish Memories, 8 Liss-A-Paoraigh, 20 Stage Affair and Scolardy, 33 Turtelback, 66 Benbyas.
