Boston Bob Stretches Out to 3m for Punchestown
- By A.J. Ryder on April 19, 2012 16:13 GMT
As the Punchestown Festival draws nearer by the day, we're starting to see some very firm cards begin to develop as horses make commitments towards specific races. One of the most backed contenders at Cheltenham was Boston Bob who turned out for the Willy Mullins yard only to come up short to Brindisi Breeze in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett's.
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Ruby Walsh was in the irons that day and the pair were beaten by a two-length margin, posting a figure of 151. Despite a career-best rating, he still has just the solitary Grade 1 to his credit – a novice hurdle score against a limited field of four at Navan.
Much of the hype surrounding Boston Bob is due to his score in a Grade 2 effort at Leopardstown when he tackled a tricky field of eleven. Sent off as the 9/4 favourite he kept on particularly well and that's why he took so much backing at Cheltenham.
It now appears that Willy Mullins & Co. believe he's going to get back to winning ways by giving him more ground to work with. He is set to go 3m once again at the Punchestown Festival next week.
The Wednesday fixture, the War of Attrition Novice Hurdle is set to play host to the seven-year-old's next effort.
Mullins spoke to the media on Thursday morning. “While Boston Bob had a hard race winning at Leopardstown and another one when finishing second inthe Albert Bartlett, he seems in good form and the plan is to run him in the three-mile race. Felix Yonger, who ran second in the Neptune at Cheltenham, likely to go for the Grade 1 Cathal Ryan Memorial Champion Novice Hurdle over 2m4f.”
Mullins also took the opportunity to outline plans for some of his stable's other major names. Hurricane Fly is set to contest the Rabobank Champion Hurdle and has been working out well after a break following Cheltenham.
Mullins other Cheltenham winners, Sir Des Champs and Quevega are both expected to be out at Punchestown as well with the Growise Champion Novice Chase and the Ladbrokes World Series Hurdle both in the reckoning.
