Bryony Frost is gunning for a Grade 1 double for boss Paul Nicholls at next weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival.
Frost partners old ally Frodon, who crossed the Irish Sea to land the top-level Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal in October, in the €250,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Leopardstown on Saturday before seeking a third Grade 1 success aboard Greaneteen in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase the following afternoon.
“Bryony is going over to ride both horses,” said Nicholls, who reported three-time winner Frodon, a well-beaten fourth behind Tornado Flyer in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, to be “in good shape” for his clash with defending champion Kemboy and last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo.
Drying terrain on Leopardstown’s chase course is a worry to Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott, but Nicholls added: “The ground being good is a massive plus for Frodon - it was soft enough at Kempton in the end.
“We’ve always thought going left-handed round Leopardstown will suit him.”
Greaneteen, on whom Frost captured the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown Park last month, finished a 10-length second to Shishkin in Kempton’s Grade 2 Desert Orchid Chase over Christmas.
Nicholls admitted: “I probably ran him a bit quick in that race, thinking Shishkin wasn't going to go - then, of course, he turned up!
“Greaneteen will love the track and the ground.”
Meanwhile, Stattler is the new 5-2 favourite for Cheltenham’s National Hunt Chase after defending his unbeaten record over fences at Naas yesterday.
Willie Mullins’ seven-year-old added to a winning start over the larger obstacles at Fairyhouse two weeks before Christmas with a length-and-a-quarter call from Farouk D’Alene in the Grade 3 Naas Racecourse Business Club Novice Chase.
“He was a bit novicey but I suppose it was a big step up in class from his first win and it told there,” said Ireland's champion trainer.
“He'll learn a lot with the way he jumped - he needed the three miles and will probably have no trouble going further.
“It was a fight the whole way up the straight and he only asserted in the last 100 yards. A longer trip, going steadier, will suit him.”
