Connell’s Good Land won’t let rivals Passe in Ballymore test

By Ed Culham

YOU HAVE to go back six years to find the last Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle (1.30pm) winner trained on these shores and this year’s race really does highlight the overwhelming strength of the Irish battalions that travel to Cheltenham.

Ireland have five of the top six in the betting, with Willie Mullins accounting for four of those, but it’s not one of the Closutton maestro’s string that I’m going to side with here.

GOOD LAND tipped up on hurdles debut at Fairyhouse in December, but hasn’t looked back since then, winning with ease at Leopardstown and then returning to the Foxrock venue to win the two-mile six-furlong Grade 1 novice hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.

That victory proved two things, that he will stay this trip on the Old Course well, and he has a likable attitude after finding extra when challenged last time.

Ground conditions should be no issue either for this son of Blue Bresil, and I can see him settling better than last time, relishing the strong tempo of this race, and staying on strongly up the hill.

At around 3/1 with William Hill, he looks to have been slightly overlooked in the market compared to the favourite, probably because he represents trainer Barry Connell, whose County Kildare yard accommodates around 40 horses.

Mullins will saddle more across the four days of the Festival alone and you have to ask yourself what price he would be if he was trained by the all-time leading Cheltenham Festival trainer.

It’s Mullins that trains the one most likely to chase him home in the form of IMPAIRE ET PASSE, who has won by a combined total of 24 lengths in his two starts since arriving in Ireland from France.

Most recently he was a winner of the Grade Two Moscow Flyer at Punchestown over two miles.

While that wasn’t the strongest of races, he lengthened away from his rivals off the home turn leaving the impression that he’d improve for this step back up in distance.

Despite other strong runners from the Mullins camp, including last year’s Boodles runner-up Gaelic Warrior, Paul Townend has chosen to ride the Simon and Isaac Souede-owned five-year-old and that is a tip in itself.

My worry with him though is that he hasn’t really been tested in two races to date so he’s worth taking on at 13/8, which is more than short enough.

HERMES ALLEN looks to be the only real chance of upsetting the Irish, and Paul Nicholls’ impressive Challow Hurdle winner certainly isn’t without a chance.

Nicholls has run Bravemansgame and Stage Star in this contest in the last two years and both have disappointed, but his contender this year looks to have stronger credentials, with winning form over this course and distance already to his name.

He can put up a strong fight for the home team, but ultimately is likely to find a few of the Irish novices too strong.

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