GAVIN CROMWELL BLOG: Champion Hurdle Winning Trainer and BETDAQ Brand Ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his six runners this weekend before returning early next week to look ahead to an extremely busy few days for the yard including the Punchestown Festival.
It’s a pretty hectic time of the year for us in Ireland with Fairyhouse over Easter and Punchestown next week. A number of our horses ran well at Fairyhouse, so hopefully they can continue to over the weekend and into next week. Looking ahead to Punchestown and as things stand we could have as many as 13 runners next week, which is obviously very exciting. I’d like to think plenty will go well, but more on those in a few days time.
WEXFORD SATURDAY
We run Toosey at Wexford on Saturday (5.20pm) and we’re hoping he goes there with a favourite’s chance.
He didn’t run too badly at Wincanton the last day considering he’d been off the track since November, so we’re expecting him to come on again here. He’ll like the good ground and I’m pretty hopeful he’ll be there or thereabouts.
SLIGO SUNDAY
On to Sunday and Peaches And Cream makes his handicap debut (2.50pm). He hasn’t shown an awful lot in his three starts so far, but should be more suited to handicap company.
He’ll need to improve on what he’s done so far to get himself involved here.
Later on the card, I’m looking forward to running Global Racing in the handicap hurdle (4.30pm). He won on debut for the yard and has been really consistent since, particularly over hurdles.
A mark of 95 looks well within his capabilities, so with any luck he can end his season on a high with another strong performance.
Our final runner at Sligo is Bronson In Blue who lines up in the handicap hurdle (5.00pm).
He’s another who hasn’t quite put it all together in his maidens yet, though I do think he has more ability than he has shown so far. I’m not quite sure where a mark of 99 leaves him, but once he’s run here, we’ll be able to figure out exactly where we are and plot a path accordingly.
NAVAN SUNDAY
Over at Navan on the Flat, we run two horses in the same race (5.15pm).
Sbraase ran plenty before the turn of the year, but this will be his first start since December. He should handle the ground and while he’s gone up in the weights again, we’re hopeful he’ll run well.
Political Policy is back on the turf after running a number of good races on the all-weather. We’re hopeful that a mark of 67, which is eight pounds lower than his all-weather mark, means he’s well-handicapped.
He’s a big favourite of the yard, so fingers crossed he can run well again and get his head in front. We’ve been encouraged by a number of his performances this season and it would be great if he could finally get his head in front this time around.
