15:00 Gowran Park

Thursday 23 January 2020

All12:4513:2013:5014:2515:0015:3516:10

Goffs Thyestes Handicap Chase (Grade A)

Off time: 15:00 | Winning time: 6m 42.70s

Acapella Bourgeois^h²²

Age: 10| Weight: 11-7| J: Paul Townend| T: W P Mullins| OR: 152

6/1

Progression will have disappointed connections since winning the Grade 2 Ten Up Novice chase at Navan over two years ago. Well held on seasonal debut but much improved last at Tramore behind Al Boum Photo; very much respected.

Form: 013-002

Chef Des Obeaux²⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 11-5| J: R M Power| T: W P Mullins| OR: 150| D

6/1

Winning chaser for Niicky Henderson and showed his current well being when finishing 5th of 27 at Fairyhouse in December; he would have been closer with better jumping, fair chance.

Form: 3U1P-45

Total Recall⁴⁹

Age: 11| Weight: 11-4| J: Danny Mullins| T: W P Mullins| OR: 149

16/1

Well regarded chaser who was a little below par in valuable chases in France in the spring and not fluent when last seen out in hurdles event at Clonmel in December; has talent but hard to assess at present.

Form: 23P-863

Borice^t⁵⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 11-1| J: D A Jacob| T: G Elliott| OR: 146

16/1

Stayed on well to win Galway Plate (2m6½f, good) in July; below par when last seen at the end of November at Newbury; has plenty of talent and trainer does well in this contest.

Form: 09-1110

Ex Patriot²²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-1| J: Mr D O'Connor| T: Miss Ellmarie Holden| OR: 146| C

8/1

Useful handicapper, held every chance when fourth in the Caspain Caviar but run flattened out late; conditions fine once more and no reason not to run his race, and a solid pace up front would help his chance.

Form: 411-234

Class Conti^t²⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 11-0| J: M P Fogarty| T: W P Mullins| OR: 145

33/1

Has a poor completion record, but not with this yard long, and did win at Tramore in April. Needed the run over hurdles on his return but fell last time out at Leopardstown; not one to take too short a price with.

Form: FP/1-P5F

Livelovelaugh²⁷

Age: 10| Weight: 10-12| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: W P Mullins| OR: 143

14/1

On a fair old losing streak now but can put in some useful performance on his day notably on his penultimate start at Punchestown in May; warmed up for this with middling effort at Leopardstown in December; one to note.

Form: P200-20

Moyhenna²⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 10-11| J: D G Hogan| T: D Hogan| OR: 142

10/1

Clear-cut winner of a Grade 2 novice chase at Limerick in March before winning again when landing a Punchestown 2m5f chase in May; need to put a fall last time out Limerick behind him but every chance if doing so,

Form: FU1-18F

Roaring Bull^b²⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 10-11| J: D N Russell| T: G Elliott| OR: 142

10/1

Had been struggling since being placed in a Grade 3 event at Limerick in March but bounced back to form last time out at Leopardstown; more needed here at the weights but comes here in good heart and should go well.

Form: 636-301

Choungaya^t²⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 10-7| J: O R Brown⁽⁷⁾| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 138

12/1

Only raced the three times over fences so should be open to improvement but will need to improve plenty on his latest effort at Leopardstown when finishing 4th of 10 beaten nearly 30 lengths.

Form: 6F7-244

Minella Fair^t²⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 10-7| J: Sean Flanagan| T: N Meade| OR: 138

14/1

Was successful on his second appearance over fences at Limerick (2m6f) in October; featured at Leopardstown (3m) in December where he was pulled up in the Paddy Power Chase; difficult to assess at present but likely to be popular in the betting ring

Form: 1/6-134P

Noble Endeavor^p²⁶

Age: 11| Weight: 10-7| J: K J Brouder⁽³⁾| T: G Elliott| OR: 138

50/1

Lightly raced over the last couple of years and recent completion rate is poor; no real encouragement on latest appearance at Leopardstown and other easily preferred.

Form: 90P-PP0

General Principle^b,t²⁷

Age: 11| Weight: 10-5| J: C P McNamara⁽⁵⁾| T: G Elliott| OR: 136| C

33/1

Former Irish National hero, but while he ran well once or twice last term, he's looked a shadow of his former self on his last few starts, and makes scant appeal here.

Form: 3PFP-PP

Smoking Gun^t²³

Age: 7| Weight: 10-5| J: J J Slevin| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 136| C| D

9/2

Had a great strike rate over hurdles with four wins from seven starts and won on his third attempt over fences last time out at Punchestown; more on his plate on handicap debut but very consistent and could run a big race.

Form: 11-0831

Lord Schnitzel^t¹¹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-4| J: A W Short⁽³⁾| T: M J Smith| OR: 135

14/1

Remains a maiden after seight starts. Has hit the frame on two of his outings this season, including at Fairyhouse (2m5f) in November when he was second of 18. Needs to improve to record his first success.

Form: 89-3234

Pont Aven²⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 10-3| J: Brian Hayes| T: W P Mullins| OR: 134| D

25/1

Won on chase debut at Wexford over 3m1f in May, and in frame twice since. Made favourite for Cork National on penultimate start, but let down by jumping and that would be a concern in this big field.

Form: P-132PU

Mick The Jiver³⁹

Age: 10| Weight: 10-3| J: Reserve 1| T: E O'Grady| OR: 134

20/1

Reserve 1 Returned to form last time out at Navan to win comfortably; more to do here but could go well now confidence is back.

Form: 671-461

Out Sam^t,v⁴¹

Age: 11| Weight: 10-3| J: Reserve 2| T: G Elliott| OR: 134

16/1

Reserve 2 Has some good past form in staying handicap chases although he's a hard sort to trust these days; finished 4th in this contest last year.

Form: 0-52FP3

Non-Runners

Dounikos¹⁰¹

Weight: 11-4| Age: 9

T: G Elliott J: B Browne

Monbeg Notorious²⁷

Weight: 10-11| Age: 9

T: G Elliott J: Sean O'Keeffe

Solomn Grundy²⁷

Weight: 10-2| Age: 10

T: H De Bromhead J: Reserve 3

Forecasts

Smoking Gun (9/2), Acapella Bourgeois (6/1), Chef Des Obeaux (6/1), Ex Patriot (8/1), Roaring Bull (10/1), Moyhenna (10/1), Choungaya (12/1), Minella Fair (14/1), Lord Schnitzel (14/1), Livelovelaugh (14/1), Total Recall (16/1), Out Sam (16/1), Borice (16/1), Mick The Jiver (20/1), Solomn Grundy (20/1), Dounikos (25/1), Pont Aven (25/1), Class Conti (33/1), General Principle (33/1), Noble Endeavor (50/1), Monbeg Notorious (50/1)

SMOKING GUN is taken to improve once again and land this tricky contest on only his fourth chase start, With conditions set to be soft (heavy in places) he may benefit from only have a light weight to carry around this tough course. He will need to iron out some jumping errors but if doing so he holds every chance. Conversely Acapella Bourgeois has plenty of weight to carry but Willie Mullins' runner is the class act of the race exemplified when finishing behind Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite Al Boum Photo at Tramore in January. A repeat of that run should see him go close. Honourable mentions go to Roaring Bull, Livelovelaugh and Chef Des Obeaux in what looks a fascinating race.