Cheltenham anti-climax but Percy’s Cup dream not over
IT’S the not knowing which is the killer. The 2020 Cheltenham Gold Cup was building up to a thrilling crescendo and Presenting Percy was about to launch his bid for glory in the most prestigious National Hunt race of all.
Twelve months earlier, the Galway trained horse had trailed home a disappointing eighth behind Al Boum Photo but Pat Kelly’s charge also returned lame to the unsaddling enclosure under the shadow of Cleeve Hill.
Sent off the 100/30 market leader in the 2019 edition of the meeting’s showpiece race, Presenting Percy had been bidding to maintain an unblemished record at the home of National Hunt racing, having won the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle and the RSA Novices Chase at the previous two festivals.
The horse’s Cheltenham preparations last year had been hindered by an unorthodox build up which saw him restricted to a lone run over the smaller obstacles – a victorious one in the Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park – but it still didn’t prevent punters from sending him off the well-backed market leader.
This season, however, Presenting Percy’s preparations for Cheltenham were far more straightforward. Three runs over fences, including a close up third to Delta Work in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown in February, had left the nine-year-old primed for his fourth visit to the Cotswolds.
The morning of the Gold Cup, Craughwell-based Kelly gave a positive bulletin to the horses’ owner, Philip Reynolds. There were no grounds for mitigation if Presenting Percy didn’t conquer his rivals in the 12-runner field.
“I told Philip that the horse was well and that he was fit. He had travelled over great and his bloods were good. I was happy and there would be no excuses,” Kelly recalls.
Unlike the previous year, Presenting Percy’s connections weren’t burdened with the mantle of favouritism. Though backed from 14/1 to 10/1 on the day, he was only joint sixth in the betting market pecking order.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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