Sport

Alexandre looks great at Naas

Pont Alexandre is fancied at Naas on Saturday
Pont Alexandre is fancied at Naas on Saturday Pont Alexandre is fancied at Naas on Saturday

PONT ALEXANDRE continues to make up for lost time at Naas on Saturday, when he is the star attraction in the featured Woodland Park Novice Chase.

Willie Mullins’s charge looked to have the world at his feet a couple of seasons ago and was many people’s banker going into the Cheltenham Festival in 


2013.

It was bit of a disappointment at the time that he only finished third in the Neptune Hurdle but he just didn’t have the pace to match a genuine Champion Hurdle class horse in The New One. Connections have always said the German-bred runner was a three-mile chaser in the making and it’s a pity they had to wait so long, after he lost his unbeaten record at Cheltenham, to test that theory.

He was returning from an absence of almost 33 months when scoring at Punchestown last month and produced a stunning performance to make a winning debut over fences. The eight-year-old looked a natural and with improvement surely forthcoming it’s hard to see any of his three rivals proving good enough to lower his colours in today’s Grade Two contest.

Stablemate Roi Des Francs looks a nice staying chaser in his own right but doesn’t appear to have anything like the same star quality as Pont Alexandre. He won well at Fairyhouse last month and appears to be a better chaser than hurdler but with targets such as the four-miler at Cheltenham and, longer-term, the National mooted as possibilities, it would lead you to believe he’s just short of top class.

Sub Lieutenant, who chased him home last time, looks held on that run while the mare Bonny Kate also right looks up against it in this grade.

Mullins and leading owner Rich Ricci should have a good day as they are also represented by Sempre Medici in the preceding Limestone Lad Hurdle. He ran a cracker on his return to action this season when chasing home Old Guard in a quality Grade Two event over in Cheltenham last month.

The French-bred runner had some smart novice form, in particular a defeat of Identity Thief, but it looked a step up when he tackled some seasoned performers in the International Hurdle. He was stuck up to a mark of 156 after that run and looks to have a nice bit on hand on his rivals in today’s Grade Three contest.

The two big races will have short-priced favourites and punters looking for a bit more value may be better served turning to the maiden hurdles on the card. Edwulf is an interesting one in the older horses’ contest for Aidan O’Brien. 

He was set to beat a good field of novice chasers until crashing out at the last at Navan last month and if he can transfer that to the smaller obstacles, he has to have a big shout. It looks significant that he’s been sold to JP McManus since.

Another O’Brien runner for McManus, King Of Aragon, looks the pick in the opener if he brushes up his jumping from his debut effort.