Horse Racing: Maguire Rides Towards History

It is a rare feat to both ride and train a winner at the Cheltenham Festival, so to complete the double with your first mount at the meeting and then your first runner there as a trainer would surely be unprecedented.

It is an achievement that is now well within reach for Adrian Maguire, however, after Celestial Wave's brave success in the Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park yesterday, and if the ground at the Festival is soft or heavy, it may be that only Black Jack Ketchum will stand in his way.

Maguire famously steered Omerta to victory in the 1991 Kim Muir Chase, when he was riding for the first time in Britain, never mind at the Festival. Sixteen years later, and less than three years after he took out a licence to train, Celestial Wave may now be Ireland's best hope for the World Hurdle, and is as short as 8-1 to lead the field home in the Grade One contest on March 15.

Celestial Wave is a confirmed front-runner and duly made all once again yesterday to take her career record to seven victories from 10 starts. This was not as easy as her win in a Grade Two event at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting, however, and the 4-6 favourite needed to dig deep from two out to hold off the challenge of Studmaster by five lengths.

An ante-post bet for Cheltenham would be risky at this stage, as Maguire still believes that soft ground is essential for Celestial Wave, although Cashmans do offer her at 7-1 "with a run".

"Conor [O'Dwyer] said she is as tough as you like, and that she idled in front after the third-last," Maguire said. "She ran left and right in the straight, and that ground is like glue, and no horse wants it that bad.

"I'll be watching keenly on Saturday to see how Black Jack Ketchum gets on [in the Cleeve Hurdle]. She's done us proud and is too good to be taking to Cheltenham if the ground is fast."

Celestial Wave's most obvious rival as the best mare over timber in Ireland is Asian Maze, but Tom Mullins's eight-year-old prefers a sound surface, and may yet be scratched from the AIG Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday.

With Brave Inca, Macs Joy and Hardy Eustace all expected to line up, the race could be one of the most competitive of the season. Mullins, though, will walk the course before deciding whether to run Asian Maze.

"It is drying up a touch, but I'm not going to run her on heavy in the early part of the season again," Mullins said yesterday. "If it was April I might chance her, but I would rather wait until she was super-fit."

Ron Cox's tip of the day


Deserter 5.00 Wolverhampton

The final race of the day offers a decent chance for Deserter to get off the mark following a promising introduction two weeks ago. Jamie Osborne's filly was slowly away on her debut here on that occasion, before finding her feet in the final furlong to make some eyecatching late headway. That effort also came over a mile, so today's extra distance should work in her favour.