Banbridge remains on course for Ryanair challenge

Ashley Iveson
March 5, 2024 3:57 pm

Soft ground a concern, but: ‘He’s prepared well for Cheltenham so far.’

The Ryanair Chase remains “very much the plan” for ante-post favourite Banbridge, despite concerns about ground conditions ahead of next week’s Cheltenham Festival.

Joseph O’Brien’s charge was a non-runner in the Turners Novices’ Chase at the showpiece meeting last year due to the rain-softened ground and the official going at Prestbury Park on Tuesday morning was soft, heavy in places.

Banbridge made an impressive start to his campaign when accounting for subsequent Ascot Chase winner Pic D’Orhy in the Grade Two Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton and he has since been saved for the Festival, with a final decision on his participation unlikely to be made until the morning of the race.

Banbridge with connections at Kempton (John Walton/PA)

“There’s still a long time to go between now and then, there’s lots of racing to happen and lots of weather forecasts that will come and go,” said O’Brien.

“As we’ve said all along, we’ll look forward to the race and hopefully we’ll walk the track on the morning of the race and hopefully he can run.

“Very much the plan is to run. He’s prepared well for Cheltenham so far.”

Banbridge is set to lead a small but select team of “six or seven” runners for O’Brien across the biggest four days of the season in the Cotswolds.

Joseph O'Brien is preparing a small but select team for the Cheltenham Festival — Joseph O’Brien is preparing a small but select team for the Cheltenham Festival (Brian Lawless/PA)

He added: “Hopefully we’ll have something running most of the days, some of them would like the ground a bit softer and some of them would like it a bit quicker.

“At the moment, it looks as if it’s going to favour the horses that prefer a bit of juice, but let’s see what happens – it can dry out fast and it can get softer quickly too. We’ll keep an eye on things over the next week.”

Lark In The Mornin heads the betting for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, but O’Brien revealed his participation is “up in the air”.

Considering some of his other running plans, he said: “Nurburgring is an intended runner in the Triumph Hurdle, he is still entered in the Boodles but he’s going to run in the Triumph.

“Home By The Lee is in the Stayers’ Hurdle, we’ll have Solness in the Grand Annual and Busselton in the Ultima Handicap Chase, so there’s a few runners there.”