Champion trainer Paul Nicholls eyes Dublin double with Frodon in the Irish Gold Cup and Greaneteen in the Dublin Chase
- Paul Nicholls won the Irish Gold Cup in 2009 with Neptune Collonges
- But this will the first time he has had runners at the two-day Dublin festival
- Frodon set to take on Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo on Saturday
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls is planning a dual attack on the Dublin Racing Festival with Frodon running in Saturday’s Irish Gold Cup and Greaneteen going for the Dublin Chase 24 hours later.
Nicholls won the Irish Gold Cup in 2009 with Neptune Collonges but this will the first time he has had runners at the two-day Dublin festival since it was launched in 2018.
Nicholls said: ‘Frodon’s owner Paul Vogt want to go to Ireland for a crack at the race and the ground at Leopardstown will be perfect for him as it will be for Greaneteen.’
Bryony Frost will ride Frodon (above) in Saturday’s Irish Gold Cup at Dublin Racing Festival
Opposition for Frodon could be headed by the Henry de Bromhead-trained Minella Indo, the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner who would be bidding to bounce back from being pulled up in the King George VI Chase, and last year’s Willie Mullins-trained winner Kemboy. Mullins plans to run Chacun Pour Soi in the Dublin Chase.
The Triumph Hurdle aspirations of Nicholls-trained Iceo appeared to be dashed when he was a well-beaten fourth behind effortless Gordon Elliott-trained winner Pied Piper at Cheltenham on Saturday.
But Nicholls still has an interesting card to play in the juvenile hurdle division in the form of Pleasant Man.
Trainer Paul Nicholls will have runners at the two-day Dublin Racing Festival for the first time
Bought out of the Roger Charlton stable for almost £184,000, three-time winner Pleasant Man beat Pied Piper when they met on the Flat as two-year-olds at Haydock in 2020.
He is pencilled in for a hurdling debut in the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton on February 26.
Meanwhile, Mullins-trained Stattler is now disputing favouritism at 3-1 for the 3m 6f National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival after making it two from two over fences with a length-and-a-quarter win from Farouk D’Alene in the Grade Three 3m 1f novice chase at Naas yesterday. Mullins said: ‘A longer trip going a bit steadier will suit him.’
