Horse Racing: Murphy hoping for good ground in King's Festival bid.Byline: BY CHRIS WRIGHT Chris Wright may refer to:
FERDY MURPHY Mur·phy , William Parry 1892-1987. American physician. He shared a 1934 Nobel Prize for discovering that a diet of liver relieves anemia. is praying the rain stays away from Cheltenham this week as Kalahari King aims for glory in the Irish Independent Arkle Trophy a week tomorrow. Murphy took a number of his Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is the most prestigious meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom and has race prize money second only to the Grand National. hopefuls to Doncaster on Saturday to work after racing. His exciting novice chaser was the main attraction and went well. Kalahari King is 10-1 with Ladbrokes, Coral, Victor Chandler, Paddy Power and Boylesports for the 2m Grade One chase at Cheltenham on the opening day of next week's Festival. Murphy said: "They are all grand. I was delighted and all the jockeys came back very positive. There wasn't anybody who said anything amiss, they all jumped great and did what we wanted. "Obviously I was very pleased with Kalahari King and Graham (Lee) was chuffed with him. If we could just get that ground at Cheltenham we'd have a bit of fun, but I don't know if we are going to get that. "I was also happy with Naiad Naiad, in astronomy Naiad, in astronomy, one of the natural satellites, or moons, of Neptune. naiad, in zoology: see insect. Du Misselot (who is likely to run in the Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase) and I thought L'Antartique (Ryanair Chase) went particularly well. "Now it's just a matter of ticking away until the following week. It was fantastic that Doncaster gave us the opportunity to do that. It's good for racing and creates a bit of interest and keeps everything ticking over." Another trainer who worked his horses at Doncaster was Howard Johnson and he reported Tidal Bay to be "sound as a bell". The County Durham trainer was worried last year's Arkle Trophy winner would miss the Festival after he cut his leg in the Letheby & Christopher Chase at the Prestbury Park track in January. But partenered by Denis O'Regan he showed his well-being in a mile-and-a-half gallop and a schooling over the last two fences alongside stable-mates and fellow Cheltenham hopefuls Santa's Son and Killyglen. Johnson said: "He's fine and out in the field with his mate at the minute. That would have brought him along. I'll know by the end of next week how he's training after that. He's eaten up and everything and he was as sound as a bell this morning." Tidal Bay has two options at the Festival in the Queen Mother Champion Chase The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom for five-year-old and above horses. It is run over a distance of 2 miles (3,219 metres) at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. or the Ryanair Chase. CAPTION(S): Ferdy Murphy |
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