IRISH enigma Presenting Percy is in for a change of routine.
Pat Kelly’s stable star will skip the Galmoy Hurdle on Thursday and instead be sent to the Irish Gold Cup before a shot at Festival glory.
Despite being sent off the favourite for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham last season, Presenting Percy failed to fire and was found to be lame after the race.
With Leopardstown watering before their showpiece fixture, owner Philip Reynolds is keen to test his pride and joy further before heading to Cheltenham this time around.
Reynolds said: “I don’t think we ever ruled out Leopardstown. We just said that if the ground was going to be the same as it was at last year’s Dublin Racing Festival, we’d probably run in Gowran.
“They are due to start watering in Leopardstown this week, and the long-range weather forecast suggests they’ll get 12 millimetres of rain between now and the meeting. That, combined with the watering and the rain they’ve already had, should mean the ground is safe.
“It would have been nice to bid for a third Galmoy Hurdle. But he’s a chaser now, and that’s hopefully what he’ll be doing at Cheltenham.”
Presenting Percy was beaten just four lengths in the Savills Chase, but Reynolds admits his star performed below his expectations.
He added: “I was disappointed at Christmas. He wasn’t beaten far, but he was never really in the race until the second-last.
“I think he’s better than that and I hope he proves it in the Irish Gold Cup.
“It looks like a very good race. There was only four lengths covering the first five in the Savills Chase – and apart from Monalee, it looks like they’ll all be running again.
“Then you’ve got last year’s winner (Bellshill), Henry de Bromhead’s horse who ran away with the Troytown (Chris’s Dream), and Sizing John is coming back – if they all run it will be a great race.
“We’ll be there, rightly or wrongly, and at least we should know where we stand afterwards.”
