Paul Townend: the inside track on my Sunday rides

The Grade Three Novice Chase (12:50) kicks off three good rides and some great racing in Punchestown. In this one I’ve chosen to ride Predators Gold.

I know he missed a year, but he was a novice hurdler that we liked a lot. He came back after a huge absence of 582 days to win a good race in Navan under Danny Mullins. I suppose his novice chasing season has just been delayed a year, but he looked to retain all his form that day.

There are some great lines of form from that run and that’s the route I took in picking him here. He can only improve if he performed like that after a long absence, and chasing seems to suit him.

The feature race on the card is the Grade One Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle (14:20). Sober is an interesting one, and of course if it was a Flat race he would be very short. It wasn’t an easy choice as Free Spirit looks decent and will have a big season to come.

It’s a small field but a competitive one. If I’m on the wrong one it just means we have a very good horse in Free Spirit – that’s the way I look at it. Sober’s Flat form, including the Royal Ascot race over nearly 2m 6f, might mean that in time he needs further over hurdles. He has a great level of ability. 

I wind up the day riding Riskabahia in a Maiden Hurdle (14:50) with a maximum field. She weakened a lot late on in her first race for us at Navan. We expected a lot more, she was quite keen that day and maybe just did too much on the heavy ground.

She wears a hood now and you could probably forgive her that from what she showed us at home. She’s still working well at home, so this is a second chance to show us something.

The hood will settle her down and the last run may have taken the fizz out of her. It certainly wasn’t a weak race where she made her debut, and I hope she shows us what she’s shown us at home in this second run.