Minella Indo on track for Gold at Punchestown as Blackmore bags another winner

Rachael Blackmore made it back to the winner's enclosure at Kilbeggan today. Image: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Thomas Kelly

April 22 2021 08:02 PM

Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo will face a maximum of 10 rivals when he bids to follow up at Punchestown next Wednesday.

Henry de Bromhead’s charge led home stablemate A Plus Tard to win the blue riband at Prestbury Park last month under Jack Kennedy, who will once again be on board in the Punchestown Gold Cup next week.

The eight-year-old is set to renew rivalry with the Willie Mullins-trained pair of Al Boum Photo and Kemboy. Al Boum Photo finished an honourable third when bidding for a Gold Cup hat-trick in the Cotswolds, while Kemboy – which had previously beaten Minella Indo when landing the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown – was only ninth.

Kemboy famously sent Ruby Walsh into retirement when beating Al Boum Photo in the last running of the Punchestown Gold Cup in 2019.

Mullins has also left in Ryanair Chase winner Allaho, Easy Game and Melon, while British hopes will be carried by Clan Des Obeaux, which was supplemented yesterday at a cost of €25,000. Denise Foster’s pair of Tiger Roll and The Storyteller, Joseph O’Brien’s Fakir d’Oudairies and the Tom Mullins-trained Court Maid are the other hopefuls.

De Bromhead had a victory in the 3.20 at Kilbeggan yesterday with Not Available as the winning jockey, Rachael Blackmore, closed in on Paul Townend in the race for the Irish jump jockeys’ title. She is just seven behing the currently sidelined Townend, who hopes to be back for next week’s Punchestown Festival, the season finale.

De Bromhead’s Put The Kettle On, this year’s Cheltenham Champion Chase winner, will take on Nicky Henderson’s Altior in the bet365 Celebration Chase at Sandown tomorrow. Nicky Henderson’s horse is seeking a fourth win in the race.