Noel Meade is pleased with Affordale Fury's preparation for Saturday's Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup.
The eight-year-old announced himself on the big stage when beating I Am Maximus and Galopin Des Champs in the Savills Chase over Christmas and is 7/1 with the sponsors to follow up in this weekend's Grade One.
“All’s gone well. We’ve done everything we wanted to with him. I wanted let him relax a bit after the Christmas run which I did and he had two weeks easy and we just started winding him up again then," the trainer told Tuesday's Nick Luck Daily Podcast.
“He did his final piece of work yesterday morning and we were very happy with that. We think we’re in a good place but are still learning as the fella says but we think we’re in a good place and are looking forward to Saturday."
Meade is relieved to see his rising star fulfilling his potential as he finally gets a clear run at things.
“We’ve always thought he was a nice horse and when he was second in the Albert Bartlett he was coming home very strongly that day so when they stay three miles over hurdles you find they stay a little further over fences," he said.
“So he’s proved. He’s had an unfortunate career so far in that he’s never really got a good run at it because every time we got going, something came and stopped us, nothing ever that serious, he never had a tendon or anything like that, but just different little things.
“He pulled a muscle that kept him away and sort of missed his novice campaign as a chaser and hence he ended up having very few runs.
“I was kind of waiting for the Irish National with him last year. He had two runs over fences then another one at Fairyhouse and he looked like he was going to win but made a very bad mistake at the last and just got beaten in January or February time.
“At that stage we decided to wait for the Irish National with him and he went and pulled a muscle. Then they changed the rules and he needed another run this season to run in one of these premier handicaps, instead of three he needed four.
“So we ran him in the two mile four champion chase at Gowran at the beginning of October and he ended up finishing second in that and the handicapper put him up another five pounds.
“So that sort of scuppered the handicaps a bit so we decided to go north with him to Down Royal and he ran well, was just a bit novicey in his jumping, he didn’t jump as well as we thought he should. Then he went to Thurles where didn’t handle the track that well but still won."
From there it was to the Savills, a race he won despite showing a tendency to jump to the right.
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
“I watched the race live and didn’t realise he’d jumped to the right as much as he did, but in hindsight, looking back at it, he did give away a fair amount of ground," Mead conceded.
“Jockeys think the reason is he just sets himself up to jump that way. Both Sam (Ewing) and Donagh (Meyler) are of the opinion it would be a mistake to try and change him too much. So that’s a slight worry alright but it is what it is and we’ll go on from there.”
And Meade feels Affordale Fury represents his best chance to date of winning the Boodles Cheltenham Cup in March.
“I think the distance in the Gold Cup will suit him. I think the extra two-and-a-half furlongs is going to be a bonus to him whereas it mightn’t have been a bonus to Road To Respect or Road To Riches," he said.
“But to this fella I think it would be a bonus. Harbour Pilot was third in the Gold Cup twice but I think he stayed OK, he probably did, but his jumping was never good enough. He always kept making a mistake just getting himself out of it when you wanted him in there.
“But I think this fella is probably better than those and the two-and-a-half furlongs will be a big help.”
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
