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Joseph O’Brien arrives with a shot at glory with the Fakir D’oudairies as Ireland’s coaches look to reverse a serious lack of winners across the Irish Sea ahead of next month’s Cheltenham Festival.
- Joseph O’Brien arrives with Fakir D’oudairies looking to cause a sensation at Ascot
- Irish coaches look to reverse worrying decline in UK results
- Gordon Elliot enjoys a much better hit rate than most of his Irish counterparts.
Much has been said and written about the failure of British trainers to make an impact in Ireland, but some of their high-profile counterparts from across the Irish Sea have not found the UK a happy hunting ground this season.
Multiple champion trainer Willie Mullins has just one win to his name from 10 runners, courtesy of Dads Lad’s close success at Cheltenham in October, while Bromhead’s Henry is yet to record an 11-runner win in A Plus Tard, Envoi Allen and Arctic Bresil. beaten in grade one races.
Gordon Elliott enjoys a much better hit rate, which is to be expected given the way he is targeting the largely uncompetitive British summer show jumping program.
Elliott has amassed 29 winners from 111 runners, but Scilly Isles Novices Chase winner Gerri Colombe aside, the vast majority of his success came in the late spring and summer when the likes of Ted Hastings (three wins), Hermann Clermont (two), Britzka (two) and Enki Flacke (two) helped inflate his hit rate.
Of course, those stats are very likely to change when the Cheltenham Festival kicks off in a month’s time, but one manager who has managed to score consistently top-flight scores outside of the Festival of late is Joseph O’Brien, for whom FAKIR D ‘ OUDAIRIES (Ascot, 3.35) has been the basis of that success.
Joseph O’Brien arrives at Ascot seeking glory with Fakir D’oudairies
The four best performances of the eight-year-old’s career have all come in Great Britain and contributed to consistent UK figures that include four wins and three seconds.
There may have been an element of fortune surrounding the team’s last win at Thurles, where Haut En Couleurs crashed over the final fence with the race seemingly in their hands.
However, Fakir D’oudairies stayed on at that point, albeit two lengths behind his main rival, so the result was still in doubt and he looks the safest option to take another Grade One in the Betfair Ascot Chase at today.