Barry Geraghty: Bay can give Fahey a second Imperial Cup

You just have to laugh, don’t you? Everyone has been desperate for rain all winter with the courses having to water just to make them raceable and trainers not being able to run their horses. We’re now in ‘spring’ and we’ve got snow, inspections and potentially a soft ground Cheltenham Festival – the storm before the storm rather than the calm before the storm! We still don’t know what next week will do, but the forecast looks like more winter conditions than spring. It is what it is, and everyone is in the same boat.

Sandown, Saturday

Hopefully Sandown gets the go ahead on Saturday as there’s some decent competitive racing and the Imperial Cup (2:25) is always an interesting race. If it does, it’s going to be really testing so you will need horses who handle conditions and get the trip.

I rode work alongside ZOFFANY BAY before he went to Ascot last month. That was his first run back in nearly two years and it was a very good effort. You can never rule the bounce factor out – it happens with some horses and doesn’t with others. There’s no rhyme or reason to it and that run may well have brought him on.

He showed a strong level of form at Ascot behind Irish Hill that day and he won some decent races in France on soft and heavy. Peter Fahey is a very shrewd judge. He won this race easily 12 months ago with Surprise Package and also took the County Hurdle with Belfast Banter a couple of years back.

There are plenty of others that you can give a chance to. Playful Saint looks an obvious favourite. He bolted up on heavy ground at Leicester the last day and was a very good second to Love Envoi over course and distance the time before that. Gary Moore’s Givega won well here last month and Monviel is another who will like the ground, but I’ll go with Peter Fahey to win this race two years’ running.

The EBF Final (1:50) is normally a race for future chasers. I won it 10 years ago on Close Touch for Nicky [Henderson] and Her Majesty The Queen. Second to me that day was a certain Many Clouds who would go onto much bigger and better things.

It looks wide open with plenty coming here in good form. Paul Nicholls has a strong hand with Henri The Second, Hugos New Horse and Twin Power, but I thought CHURCHILLS BOY was an interesting runner for Nick Gifford.

He won a heavy ground Chepstow bumper just over a year ago and is two from three over hurdles, including a soft ground win at Plumpton just before Christmas. He’ll have no problem with the conditions, or the trip, and will be a decent each-way price.

Luccia won the Listed EBF Mares’ Bumper (3:00) last year and she is the favourite for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival next week. I’m not sure there’s anything like her in this field but Nigel Twiston-Davies’ CASA NO MENTO won her point-to-point bumper on heavy at Bangor and then demolished the opposition at Hereford in January by 12 lengths on soft. We don’t know how good she is but she’s another who will handle conditions, which counts for plenty when Sandown gets heavy.

I can’t see past EASY AS THAT for Venetia Williams in the novices’ handicap chase (3:35). He’d been off the track for a long time when reappearing at Ffos Las in November, but his last two wins have been very impressive, and he looks to be a horse on the up.

Naas, Sunday

There is some good racing at Naas on Sunday with a few horses you might have expected to be running at Cheltenham next week.

IRISH POINT goes for the Grade 3 hurdle (2:32) over two miles. He was a bit disappointing the last day at the Dublin Racing Festival, but prior to that he’d finished second to Champ Kiely in the Lawlor’s Of Naas and Marine Nationale in the Royal Bond. The Marine Nationale form probably needs a bit of a boost ahead of Cheltenham, so I’m sure Barry Connell would like to see Irish Point run well.

In the Grade 3 novice chase (4:17), JOURNEY WITH ME should be hard to beat. He was battling it out for second with Three Stripe Life in last year’s Ballymore when coming down at the last. He was narrowly beaten by Impervious at Punchestown in January, and connections of that mare will be watching this race closely ahead of the Mares’ Chase at the Festival.

The Leinster National (4:52) is a competitive race but probably lacks a bit of quality. My eye is drawn to THE TACK ROOM down the bottom of the weights. He got his head in front at Fairyhouse the last day on soft to heavy and he looks like a horse that is open to improvement.

Now Where Or When is a danger after his third to Kemboy in the Bobbyjo Chase. He’d run well in a valuable handicap at Leopardstown before that, so he comes into this in decent form.