FOR quite some time now my first race meeting of the year has generally been The Pierce Hurdle formerly known as The Sweeps and The Ladbroke at Leopardstown. And this year was no exception.
This is the first big race meeting of the calendar year held in the second weekend of January. The meeting generally shows up a winner or two for the Cheltenham festival.
The big hurdle race of the day is always very competitive with up to 30 runners in contention for the fine prizemoney of 130,000. 28 faced the starter this year and the most fancied horses in the race were quoted at the generous odds of 10/1 so it was wider open than usual this year you could say.
The trainer with the best record in the race is Arthur Moore who was seeking his seventh winner of the race this year and there were a few placed horses thrown in as well.
One of Arthur s runners this year was Janadou owned by JP McManus he looked very promising as the field entered the home straight but he failed in the run in.
This year s winner Xenophon, has a Killarney connection as the pilot on board was none other than Mick Fitzgerald who spent most of his national school days in Killarney.
The winner was trained by Tony Martin who had two runners in the field both well fancied. I picked the right one main-ly because my old friend of long standing, Tony Sweeney, had selected him in The Irish Times along with Evening Scent as being his two against the field. Here is what he wrote:
As evidence that size isn t everything, Barry Geraghty with a significant choice of mounts has opted to stay with Evening Scent despite being beaten by Some Buzz (recd 18lb) over this course and distance at Christmas.
His mount had paid the penalty of a 17lb rise in the ratings for a smashing win at Fairyhouse at the beginning of December when having gone to the front four out went clean away to beat Colonel Rayburn (recd 12lb) by seven lengths.
She now meets Some Buzz on 8lb better terms and what could decide the issue would be a better round of jumping. Dangers are a dime a dozen but with Mick Fitzgerald booked Xenophon is an interesting runner. He had been off the track since early in the year when second to Cloone River (recd 6lb) at Punchestown (2m hcp hurdle) in November. Xenophon meets Mr. Sneaky Boo (3rd on 7lb better terms).
Selection: Evening Scent NB: Xenophon .
Tony, always a great student of form, constantly delivers the goods. I have told him many a time that if I want to know the horse that should win the race, I look at his selection.
Tony is steeped in racing lore his grandfather Seantor JJ Parkinson had trained the most winners in Ireland for over 50 years until Dermot Weld comes along to catch up with him and set a new record he is continuing to improve on.
Last year Tony Sweeney brought out one of the greatest racing books of all times Sweeney s Guide to the Irish Turf 1501 - 2001. which I reviewed in my column last March.
After all that, it is congratulations all around to all concerned with last Sunday s meeting at Leopardstown. Here special mention is in order to Pierce Construction, the main sponsors.
Good to see their chairman Mr. GT Pierce whose father hailed from Listowel, there enjoying himself.
Now for two bits of information that might pay dividends next March at attractive odds.
1. Keliworth: trained by Patrick O Brady, in Monaghan will be running in the Triumph Hurdle, one of the most difficult races of all to win at Cheltenham. Patrick thinks highly of the horse. He supplied the fourth home, Balpour at a big price in last years triumph hurdle.
2. Lieberman this horse was christened by my old classmates in Blackrock college. Fr. Aiden Lehane. This is another dark horse for Cheltenham that I haven t seen quoted yet in any of the anti post lists. He is one for the notebook though so keep an eye out for Liberman, named after the founder of the Holy Ghost order.
Reading between the lines
THIS year Pope John Paul II will celebrate his silver jubilee as Pontiff. He will be Christ s vicar on earth for all of 25 years. A wonderful innings for one of the greatest Popes in Christiandom.
Despite suffering from Parkinson s Disease, his output has been colossal travelling all over the world meeting his flock. Travels are on the agenda again this year including a trip to Spain in May that you can rest assured will draw colossal crowds.
Pope John Paul II is a gifted man, fluent in many languages and a writer of repute.
This year he is publishing a volume of poetry which you can be certain will be one of the guaranteed bestsellers of 2003. This will be the Pope s first published book of poetry since his election. Richard Owen writing in The Times (January 1, 2003) states that:
"Vatican officials disclosed yesterday that the Pope had spent the last few months composing a new book of poems to be published this year, first in his native Poland and then globally. The Catholic Information Agency said that the volume would be entitled The Rome Triptych: The Meditations of John Paul 11."
It is a wonderful gift to be able to write poetry and it is great that the Pope s talent in this sphere is not being lost during his Papacy.
Richard Owen states that in the forthcoming volume the Pope "not only reflects on his role in history and religion in a kind of last testament but also offers thoughts on the qualities required of his successor."
Vatican insiders say that the Pope has been meditating on his remarkable life. "This is in the nature of a last will and testament, his legacy to the world."
Now to give you some idea of the Pope s prowess in the field of poetry here is one he wrote earlier in life.
Girl Disappointed In Love
With mercury we
measure pain
As we measure the heat of
bodies and of air,
But this is not how to
discover our limits
You think you are the
centre of things,
If you could only grasp
that you are not:
The centre, is He,
And He, too, finds no love
Why don't you see?
The human heart
what is it for?
Cosmic temperature.
Heart, Mercury.
What a lovely few words to put you thinking.
