Racing Diary: Kelly stakes claim for Istabraq's crown

Ned Kelly staked his claim to Istabraq's hurdling crown by romping away with the £100,000 AIG Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday.

Despite the heavy ground Susan Magnier's six–year–old was always going twice as well as his seven rivals and when Norman Williamson asked him to go he quickened away in the style of a horse who has 'class' written all over him.

The odds were cut on Ned Kelly to as low as 11–2 for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March and although it will not be easy to beat the great Istabraq at Cheltenham there is no doubt Ned Kelly is a very worthy rival.

Istabraq who himself had won this AIG Hurdle for the past four seasons decided to give the race a miss this year preferring to wait for the really big one at Cheltenham where he will attempt to become the first horse ever to win four Champion Hurdles.

However at 10 years old the champion is not getting any younger and the fact that he has had only one race this season adds fuel to the fact that he might not be as tough or as brilliant as he has been in the past.

I was very impressed with Ned Kelly and in trainer Edward Ogrady and jockey Norman Williamosn he has two men who are well up to winning 'the big one.'

Despite the bottomless ground it was a real pleasure to be at Leopardstown on Sunday-the Irish love their racing-and it would have made it a perfect day if their other big hope Moscow Flyer could have won the Arkle Chase but theodds on favourite took a heavy fall at the halfway stage of the race and although he is reported to be none the worse for that there is always the worry that that fall might have dented his confidence.

The race was won by Willie Mullin's Assessed who was given a lovely ride by Ruby Walsh and he enjoyed a particularly succesful weekend because 24 hours earlier he has ridden Rinci Ri to a storming success in the Pillar Chase at Cheltenham.

Rinci Ri which is gaelic for 'Lord ofthe Dance' may have hit a number of fences hard but Ruby Walsh is a hard jockey to dislodge-a bit like his dad who trains the horse used to be-and Rinci Ri is now on course for the Cheltenham Gold Cup where his connections are thinking of putting blinkers on him just to keep his mind more on the job!

First Gold who had been one of the favourites for this year's Gold Cup will miss the race with a leg injury.

His trainer Francois Doumen has said that he couldn't train the horse with this injury so it has been decided to rest him and hopefully bring him back next season.

Richard Johnson has had to be patient after a broken leg put him out of action on October 22nd but he made a return to raceriding last week and made it back into the winner's enclosure for the first time in over 3 months when riding a double at Kempton on Monday.