Mate has Irish Christmas date
Jim Lewis, owner of Best Mate, confirmed at a lunch at Leopardstown racecourse yesterday that his dual Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup winner would return to Ireland next Christmas.
Lewis, special guest at the announcement of Lexus Ireland taking over sponsorship of the Ericsson Chase, said: “If Best Mate is fit and well come December, he will run in the Lexus Chase.”
Best Mate was very impressive when beating Le Coudray by nine lengths in the Leopardstown race on December 28 and is now as short as 4-6 in some books to complete his hat-trick in chasing’s blue riband event in March.
Lewis reported that Best Mate is on course for Cheltenham and will be back in full training towards the end of this month.
Lexus Ireland, whose chairman is Dr Tim Mahony, owner of Ballylinch Stud, will sponsor the €150,000 race for the next three years.
Mahony said: “We are delighted with this sponsorship of the Lexus Chase.
“We have been looking for the right racing sponsorship for some time and when this chase became available, we jumped at the opportunity.
“National Hunt racing is passionately followed in Ireland. Therefore we see it as fitting in with our plans for Lexus in Ireland.”
