March 18

Beef Or Salmon can become the first Irish winner of the Gold Cup since Imperial Call nine years ago.

Michael Hourigan's nine-year-old has the best form in the race - namely last year's Gold Cup and the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown - and the Patrickswell trainer firmly believes that the horse has never been better.

He is also convinced that the respiratory tract infection that caused the gelding to run way below his best in last month's Hennessy is a thing of the past.

In fact Paul Carberry's mount is a better horse than he showed 12 months ago because then he had only just recovered from the muscle problems that were caused by his fall at the third fence the previous year, and it was only in the closing stages that he really got motoring.

Kicking King has had an interrupted preparation and, while Tom Taaffe believes that he has the horse back to his best, he is hard to fancy in the circumstances.

SELECTIONS:
2.00 Strangely Brown
2.35 Homer Wells
3.15 Beef Or Salmon
4.00 General Montcalm
4.40 Ground Ball
5.20 Beechcourt (ew)

	Michael Clower Archive
	MARCH 16: SUPREME TO RULE THE WORLD
	MARCH 16: PUNTERS TO FIND FESTIVAL PARADISE
	MARCH 14: HARDY PRIMED FOR CHAMPION REPEAT
	MARCH 10: BUMPER HOPE WORKS LIKE NIJINSKY
	MARCH 3: KING KO A BITTER B LOW FOR IRELAND
	FEBRUARY 24: PUBLICAN GAMBLE JUSTIFIED
	FEBRUARY 17: EUSTACE WIN WAS SO IMPRESSIVE
	FEBRUARY 10: VIRUS CLOUDS FESTIVAL PICTURE
	MARCH 15: PUNTERS TO FIND FESTIVAL PARADISE