Barry Connell is well aware that conditions won’t be perfect for Marine Nationale when he makes his season appearance in the Bar One Racing Fortria Chase at Navan on Saturday, but he is keen to get his champion up and running.
The eight-year-old claimed his second victory at the Cheltenham Festival when he walked away with the Queen Mother Champion Chase in March and followed that up with an easy win at Punchestown.
That left no doubt he was leader of the division and Connell has chosen the Fortria as his starting point for some time, but heavy rain in Ireland early this week has now put the test to the test.
“I was at the Curragh this morning and it was tough, but the worst will happen today and it’s mild to tough at Navan,” Connell said on Tuesday.
“The only good thing is that it is the first chase of the whole season at Navan so it will be completely new territory, in January or February it would be different.
“We’re really excited to run, all systems are really working and the forecast suggests it will dry out by the end of the week.
“It’s not ideal, but I think he can handle any terrain. He is such a light-footed horse that heavy ground is not ideal. But he is in top form.”
“He’s a speed horse and no real speed horse is at his best on heavy ground. He won the Royal Bond on soft ground when it was raining on the morning of the race and he got through it. What he wouldn’t like is sticky ground but because it’s fresh it shouldn’t be that way.”
“If the weather forecast is right and it’s not so wet by the end of the week, I’d say we’ll almost certainly run.”
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