They wrote a song about Cottage Rake when he won three Gold Cups just after the war, and another about Arkle 15 years later. So what, you wonder, rhymes with Limestone Lad?
The horse that Ireland’s racegoers love with a passion won for the 34th time in 62 outings at Navan yesterday and if his run could extend another three months to the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, then most of the thousands of visiting punters would probably settle for that and 19 losers.
The Arcadian tale of the horse trained on a farm who just keeps winning has been told many times over the last three seasons without ever seeming stale. Bred and owned by James Bowe and prepared by his son Michael, Limestone Lad is as honest as he is uncomplicated, a thorough stayer who likes to run the finish out his opponents.
Yesterday’s victory was achieved in the manner of most of the other 33 as Limestone Lad led from the tapes and had Liss A Paoraigh, his main rival, beaten with two flights still to jump. Nor may win No35 be long delayed, since Limestone Lad is a probable runner in the Woodies Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.
Limestone Lad is now four-from-four this season and 28 times a winner over timber. And all this from a horse who was beaten in his first three outings in maiden hurdles and won just two of his eight starts in bumpers.
The obvious hole in his form, though, is a victory in Cheltenham’s Stayers’ Hurdle. Limestone Lad has run in the race just once – in 2000 – when the fast ground was against him and he could finish only second to Bacchanal. Injury kept him away last season, while foot-and-mouth did the same in 2001.
The result is that Limestone Lad has never won in Britain. To take the Stayers’ Hurdle, he will probably need to beat a horse who has never done anything but. Baracouda, unbeaten in eight starts in this country, is now the only horse ahead of Limestone Lad in Coral’s Festival betting at 2-1.
Limestone Lad is a 5-1 chance, with Bannow Bay, who finished third under top weight in a handicap hurdle at Leopardstown yesterday, on 6-1. You need to move out to the horses on 12-1 bar to find the first British-based contenders for the race, Brother Joe and Tees Components.
“I left him a little short today and I’m relieved that he has won again,” Michael Bowe said after yesterday’s race. “He was quick and clean in his jumping down the back straight and he seems to love this place.”
Bannow Bay, too, was short of peak fitness for his first outing. “We will have a look at Limestone Lad again in a couple of weeks at Leopardstown in the Woodys Hurdle,” Christy Roche, his trainer, said. “Bannow Bay was as ready as I could have him for this race and it should leave him right for the next day.”
The abiding image of the weekend in Britain was the extraordinary leap at the last fence that sealed victory for Fondmort in the Tripleprint Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
Mick Fitzgerald had enough to spare ahead of Foly Pleasant as he and Fondmort approached the fence that a careful fiddle would have proved sufficient. Yet he saw a stride and asked for a proper jump and Fondmort responded in spectacular fashion.
Saturday’s success came nine days after Fondmort’s first run of the season when he finished third behind Poliantas at Wincanton. “I came back and said I should have gone earlier,” Fitzgerald said. “I took a pull and when I asked him to go again for a second time he didn’t want to know.
“I ran this race through in my head about 100 times and I knew how it was going to go. I couldn’t see much pace in the race so I had to be positive when the time came to quicken up.”
The Cathcart Chase, for second-season novices, is now a possible Festival engagement for Fondmort, while Rooster Booster, who won the Bula Hurdle, is as short as 4-1 for the Champion Hurdle.
“He is undoubtedly the best hurdler I have ever trained and the exciting thing is that he is still going the right way,” Philip Hobbs, his trainer, said.
Tags: Again, Limestone, note, right, strikes
