With Tranquil Sea bringing some light to the Irish contingent at the Paddy Power Gold Cup, Casey Jones aims to do the same at the Hennessy Gold Cup this weekend. Unbelievably, Michael O’Brien’s Bright Highway was the last Irish winner at the Hennessy way back in 1980.
It appears as if all involved with Casey Jones believe that he break the spell and that he is in really good shape. The feeling is that the course and distance is okay, but there are slight worries if the rain should continue causing the going to turn heavy. The consensus is that should the ground get sticky and heavy, this would put Casey Jones  at a distinct disadvantage, just like what had happened in Down Royal.
There was also a stroke of luck involved in gaining Noel Fehily for the ride, as he was actually supposed to be riding something else till declaration time. So perhaps this is the gods working their magic – well we’ll see about that.
In the meantime, the Alan King trained Nenuphar Collonges is three pounds out of Saturday’s Hennessy Gold Cup handicap, and word on the street is that Alan King does not plan to use any claiming jockey.
He has stated that he will be sticking to his stable number one, Robert ‘Choc’ Thornton, who lives up the road from me. This is because after a satisfactory run at Wincanton, King thinks that he has an each-way chance (at least) of success in this race.