15:00 Cork

Sunday 31 October 2021

All12:4013:1513:5014:2515:0015:3016:05

Paddy Power Cork Grand National Handicap Chase (0-150) (Grade B)

Off time: 15:00 | Winning time: 8m 0.2s

Russian Diamond²²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: Brian Hayes| T: E Mullins| OR: 136

11/2

Career best when winning 10-runner novice chase at Fairyhouse (21f, good, 8/1) 22 days ago, keeping on well. Significantly up in trip. Makes handicap chase debut. Leading claims.

Form: F-5F2U1

Eurobot¹⁸³

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: Sean Flanagan| T: N Meade| OR: 134| C

5/1

Below form when eleventh of 19 to Mister Fogpatches in handicap chase (6/1) at Punchestown (31f, good to soft). Off 6 months. Won first time out last year, and arrives on a fair mark.

Form: 1U64F0-

Mister Fogpatches³⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: D E Mullins| T: P A Fahy| OR: 134

11/2

1 win from 2 runs this season. Creditable fourth of 13 in handicap chase at Listowel (22f, good, 14/1) 37 days ago. Back up in trip. Should remain competitive.

Form: 35431-4

Waitnsee²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: B J Cooper| T: J P Ryan| OR: 134| C

25/1

Course winner. Tenth of 15 in handicap chase at Limerick (24f, soft, 25/1) 21 days ago. Hard to fancy.

Form: P32700

Braeside^p²⁶⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-7| J: Jack Kennedy| T: G Elliott| OR: 133| BF

16/1

Evens, sixth of 9 in novice chase at Fairyhouse (21.4f, heavy). Off 8 months. Significantly up in trip. Likely to have been primed for a big run.

Form: 435226-

Eleazar Des Neiges²⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-6| J: S Fitzgerald⁽⁵⁾| T: H De Bromhead| OR: 132

11/1

Second of 4 in minor event chase at Galway (22.5f, heavy, 2/1) 26 days ago. Up in trip. Claims if he can build on his reappearance.

Form: 4250P-2

Screaming Colours^p,t²²⁵

Age: 10| Weight: 11-6| J: C J Orr| T: W Durkan| OR: 132

11/1

Latest win in chase at Punchestown in November. 6/1, creditable fourth of 20 in handicap chase at Uttoxeter (34f, soft), left poorly placed. Off 7 months. Not taken lightly.

Form: 5/12224-

Agent Boru¹¹⁴

Age: 10| Weight: 10-13| J: Darragh O'Keeffe| T: T Gibney| OR: 125

16/1

1 win from 3 runs this season. Latest win in chase at Ballinrobe in May. Creditable seventh of 13 in handicap chase at Kilbeggan (25f, good, 9/1) 114 days ago. Must improve.

Form: P625-17

Dromore Lad⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 10-11| J: Sean O'Keeffe| T: J P Ryan| OR: 123| CD

10/1

C&D winner. Eleven runs since last win in 2020. 12/1, sixth of 8 in handicap chase at Galway (22.5f, heavy) 7 days ago. Back up in trip.

Form: 8-47PP6

Spades Are Trumps⁸⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 10-11| J: Mark Walsh| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 123

5/1

9/2, didn't need to improve to win 8-runner novice chase at Kilbeggan (25f, good to soft) 85 days ago, easily. Not certain to back that up in a more competitive environment.

Form: 059PP-1

Arverne^p¹⁸³

Age: 6| Weight: 10-7| J: Simon Torrens| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 119

16/1

Winner in chase at Punchestown in December. Pulled up in handicap chase (14/1) at Punchestown (31f, good to soft) won by Mister Fogpatches, tailing off 5 out. Off 6 months.

Form: 4/210PP-

Glorious Galway^t¹⁶⁸

Age: 9| Weight: 10-7| J: Jordan Gainford⁽³⁾| T: D McNamara| OR: 119

10/1

8/1, pulled up in handicap chase at Wexford (25.2f, heavy) 168 days ago. Returns with a bit to prove.

Form: U/P315-P

Non-Runners

Whatsyourstatus³⁹

Weight: 10-11| Age: 8

T: A Lynch J: Ricky Doyle

Forecasts

Eurobot (5/1), Spades Are Trumps (5/1), Mister Fogpatches (11/2), Russian Diamond (11/2), Dromore Lad (10/1), Glorious Galway (10/1), Screaming Colours (11/1), Eleazar Des Neiges (11/1), Braeside (16/1), Agent Boru (16/1), Arverne (16/1), Whatsyourstatus (20/1), Waitnsee (25/1)

RUSSIAN DIAMOND benefited from a return to front-running tactics and was well on top at the finish when scoring in a novice at Fairyhouse last time. If he can reproduce that sort of performance, he should prove hard to pass, although Braeside and Mister Fogpatches could both give him plenty to think about.