Gaelic Warrior has been backed into 9/4 favouritism for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle on day one of the Cheltenham Festival despite not yet running in Britain or Ireland for trainer Willie Mullins; Chacun Pour Soi, Vauban and Royale Pagaille all in Rich Ricci's squad for Cheltenham
Friday 11 March 2022 21:08, UK
Legendary owner Rich Ricci heads to Cheltenham this year with the 'talking horse' of the Festival, despite Ricci himself having yet to actually see hot favourite Gaelic Warrior.
The Boodles hopeful, currently 9/4 favourite for the juvenile handicap on Tuesday's card, has been extremely well supported in the market following some positive comments from Ricci at last month's Dublin Racing Festival.
British and Irish racegoers have yet to see the four-year-old French import on a track, but an attractive mark from the British handicapper - 10lbs lower than his French equivalent - means many have nominated Gaelic Warrior as their 'Cheltenham banker'.
Speaking on Friday's Get In show, Ricci told Sky Sports Racing: "I've never seen him in the flesh and I've never seen him work or run.
"We entered him on Cheltenham Trials day to see what mark he would get and was fully expecting and hoping he would get his French mark which was 139 and the English handicapper gave him 129 much to our delight.
"Lo and behold he's become the talking horse of Twitter but he's not my first talking horse and wouldn't be the first that loses.
"About a week ago, [Willie Mullins] said he worked well with a really good horse but didn't tell me who the horse was. He thought if he got him to Cheltenham in that shape he'd be hard to beat.
"I can't believe the price he is but I hope he's as good as everyone says he is. I've never been involved in a plot before and it's kind of fun!"
On his day I think he [Chacun Pour Soi] is every bit as good as Shishkin. I'm certainly not expecting us to get lapped!
Ricci's Festival team will not have the star names heading to Cheltenham that it has in the past, but in a period of rebuilding, he can still look forward to some serious chances, including Champion Chase contender Chacun Pour Soi.
The Mullins-trained 10-year-old has disappointed on his two previous starts in Britain, including in last year's Champion Chase, but bounced back to form with victory in the Dublin Chase at Leopardstown last month.
"If Irish Chac turns up - the old 'Chac attack' - then he's got a good chance," Ricci said. "If English Chac shows up he's got no chance.
"I thought two years ago we were nailed on to win and the horse had a stone bruise in the morning.
"Last year I have no idea what happened. Maybe he didn't travel well or maybe he doesn't like Cheltenham but we thought we'd give it another go.
"I'm not sure who is going to ride but I'm happy with Paul [Townend] or Patrick [Mullins].
"It's a great race if they all show up in great form. On his day I think he [Chacun Pour Soi] is every bit as good as Shishkin. I'm certainly not expecting us to get lapped!"
Another of Ricci's best chances comes in Friday's Triumph Hurdle with 6/4 favourite Vauban.
A winner in his native France, the Galiway gelding made a promising start for Mullins at Punchestown in December, going down by half a length to Pied Piper.
That form has been shown to be rock solid, with Pied Piper winning in real style at Cheltenham and Vauban taking Grade One honours at the Dublin Racing Festival when beating Pied Piper's Gordon Elliott-trained stablemate Fil Dor by three lengths.
"He's an interesting horse because so many of these Triumph horses are Flat horses but this fella is National Hunt bred," Ricci said.
"I think he's got the potential to be a dual-purpose horse. There's a bit of class about him. In time he could be a Melbourne Cup horse.
"Willie didn't want to run him this year, he wanted to save him for next year's Supreme.
"Let's hope he handles the hill as well as Pied Piper did. He was very impressive but I think he beat trees that day!"
In Friday's showpiece, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Ricci will once more send out the Venetia Williams-trained Royale Pagaille, who was second in the Denman Chase at Newbury last time out.
The eight-year-old was a well-beaten sixth in the feature contest last year and Ricci has concerns about the drying ground.
"I was really hoping we'd get some rain because he's a different animal on soft ground," Ricci said.
"On this ground I would worry about running into a place, with the exception that at Newbury the last day I think was the best he's jumped. That gave me some hope.
"He's got to run but we might take him to Auteuil for the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris."
