racing_news/

Nolan Eyes Open Repeat for Shinrock Paddy
03/11/09

Paul Nolan is yet to finalise his plans for The Open at Cheltenham but the County Wexford trainer has revealed today that Shinrock Paddy could be heading back to the scene of his biggest triumph to date, at the vibrant three-day meeting - Friday, November 13, to Sunday, November 15.

The £30,000 Grade Two Sharp Novices Hurdle (1.50m) over an extended two miles, on the Friday of The Open, is under consideration for Shinrock Paddy, who made it three wins from four starts under Rules when opening his account over hurdles at the first attempt at Punchestown on October 28. The classy five-year-old justified odds-on favouritism to win that two-mile maiden hurdle by half a length on soft going.

Shinrock Paddy won the Listed Griffins Richard David Awards Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race in the hands of his owner Barry Connell at last season’s The Open. The gelding suffered his only defeat to date when eighth of 24 to Dunguib in the Grade One Weatherbys Champion Bumper at The Festival in March.

Nolan, who has trained four winners at The Open and has his string is in fine form at present, revealed: “I will probably have a few entries at The Open. I need to finalise those but I would think we will consider Shinrock Paddy for the two-mile novice hurdle.

“He will come on an awful lot for his win the other day. He is a very fresh sort of a horse and carries a good bit of condition, so I’m hoping to see some improvement for that run. He showed last year that he handles the course at Cheltenham.

“The horses are in pretty good form. We could have had a really good couple of weeks there. We had an awful lot of seconds but they were beaten by nice horses and we did have a couple of nice winners, so we are hoping that those seconds are not too far from winning either. Hopefully, next time they go to the track they can put their heads in front but we can’t complain too much.”

The feature contest of The Open is the prestigious £150,000 Grade Three BetVictor Gold Cup (2.35pm), staged over an extended two and a half miles, which takes place on Saturday, November 14.

On Sunday, October 15, the highlight of the excellent card is the £100,000 Grade Three Greatwood Hurdle (2.20pm) over an extended two miles.