Gowran start for Desperandum
Nil Desperandum will launch a bid to establish himself in the ranks of Ireland’s leading chasers when he lines up for a Grade Two event at Gowran Park on Friday.
Francis Crowley’s charge is one of 19 entries for the National Lottery Agent Champion Chase, which includes other high-profile names such as Kicking King and Rathgar Beau.
“The plan is to run at Gowran on Friday and hopefully Ruby Walsh will ride,” said the trainer. He’ll then go for the big chase at Down Royal (the James Nicholson Wine Merchant Champion Chase) at the beginning of November.
“He is in great form and seems to have improved a lot over the summer.”
The seven-year-old looked to be a star in the making in the first half of last season, winning twice including when powering home by 14 lengths in a Grade One novice chase at Fairyhouse in November.
However, the gelding was beaten on his final two starts in the spring, including when finishing fourth at the Punchestown Festival, having spent four months of the campaign on the easy list.
“He just had a few niggly problems last season that kept him out of things,” explained Ms Crowley.
Those problems ruled him out of last year’s Cheltenham Festival and while this season’s meeting is hopefully on the agenda, the Curragh-based handler is not making concrete plans.
“We are running him over two and a half miles just to start him off,” said Ms Crowley. “That distance is a little bit short for him and we’d hope to run him over three miles for the rest of the season.
“We are just going to see how he shapes up before making any long-term plans, such as Cheltenham. I’d hope he would be up to Graded level all season, but we’ll just take each race as it comes.”
