Nolan: Joncol raring to go
Paul Nolan believes Joncol is in peak condition ahead of his bid to land back-to-back successes in Sunday’s Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown.
Just as he did last season, the giant eight-year-old finished a creditable third in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, and Nolan is hoping history will repeat itself again this weekend.
“We’ve had no setbacks since the Lexus and fingers crossed things continue the way they’re going,” Nolan told At The Races.
“We’re very happy with him at the moment and he’s looking great. He’ll have a good piece of work on Wednesday and that will be his final piece.
“He’ll just do normal canters then up until the Hennessy.
“We had three or four months where we had a torrid time with him as he got a bit of an infection in his leg. It seemed very trivial to start off with but you couldn’t believe the size his leg swelled up to.
“Hopefully that’s sorted now and we’re hoping that he’ll be at his peak for the Hennessy.
“We’re going to have to improve another 20lb for him to be a Gold Cup contender, but we’re hoping that he’s improved eight to 10 lengths from the Lexus to have a good chance in the Hennessy.”
