Powerful display by Aran Concerto in Gold Cup

Patience was definitely rewarded with Aran Concerto at Fairyhouse on Sunday when he won the Powers Gold Cup in an exciting finish to the big race on the opening day of the Grand National Festival. Paul Carberry thought he was lame behind when he pulled up and that was why he dismounted, as a precaution. Then, when we put the rug on him after the race, the tail strap was upsetting him, he"s a bit spooky like that. I was worried that he would be sore after the race and the vet had a look at him anyway, just as a precaution and with a horse like that you always have to be concerned. He is a really serious talent to come out and win the Powers Gold Cup with the type of preparation he had to endure. He jumped brilliantly throughout the race, he put in a hell of a jump at the last and he got tired on the run-in, but that was understandable in a grade one race. He was fairly stiff on Monday and I"d say it"s unlikely that he will race again this season. We had a good look at him after the race and again on Monday morning and he seems to be quite sore on his good hind leg, at this stage the jury is out on a decision, but I can confirm that he is very sore. I would be fairly certain that he will not turn up at Punchestown which is a bit disappointing in one sense, but the aim now will be to get him back on the track for another big race, when that will happen is difficult to say at the moment. It was a great achievement by everyone involved to get the horse in good enough shape to win a race like the Powers Gold Cup, it"s not an easy race to win and it was a real class performance. I was also delighted that Paul got a big winner on his first day back after injury, he went close on Jewel Of The West in an earlier race, but just didn"t get the rub of the green in that one. However, winning the Powers Gold Cup more than compensated us all and I know that Aran Concerto would improve from that outing if we were able to run him again. We also beat a local horse in Barker, which ran a great race, but his owner, Eamonn Duignan, was the first man over to offer his congratulations. Donnas Palm was disappointing. He started off the season very well, but I"m not too sure what went wrong in his last race, nothing showed up in any tests. Sometimes it happens with horses, they will run a stinker and there"s nothing you can do about it. I can"t understand what went wrong on Sunday, he made a very bad mistake and as soon as that happened he was gone, maybe he gave himself a fright or banged himself, I"m not sure. The other runner in that race, Fisher Bridge was due to run on Tuesday again in the big hurdle race, but I had to write this column on Monday night. Mattock Ranger ran a good race to finish fourth in a three-mile hurdle on Monday, but that"s likely to be his last race for us as he will probably go to the sales now. He will make a lovely point-to-point horse for somebody because he is a safe jumper and he stays well. He is high in the handicap, but he"d be a horse that could still have a lot of success. I was very pleased with the way Nicanor ran on Monday, that was very encouraging. He got a bit tired and he made a mistake at the last, that really ended his challenge. Casey Jones didn"t have the best of luck in the national, he over-stretched and that was it, but at least our jockey Luke McNiff got a good run on Church Island for Michael Hourigan who was very pleased with the ride. Luke is a very promising rider and I think that we will hear a lot more about him in the future. Hopefully, things will keep going right for him. Aitmatov ran no race at all, I suppose it has been a long campaign for him and things just haven"t gone his way, he"s probably finished at this stage until next season. Looking ahead to Wednesday, it"s likely that Jaamid will go for the beginners" chase, he"s rated 123 over fences so on that form alone he would have to be respected, I"d say he has a good chance. I also have one in a maiden hurdle, No Pasa Nada, which should have a good chance as well. Queen Althea may run in Dundalk on Friday night, but she will probably need the run wherever she goes. Changing direction for a moment, looking back at how things have changed over the past four or five years is quite interesting when you examine the statistics. I won the trainers" title in 2004 and I managed it with a tally of 70 winners, this season I nearly have 60 winners and I have absolutely no chance of winning the award. Willie Mullins is well clear of everyone at this stage, I"m in second place, but Willie has nearly twice that amount, it"s a phenomenal achievement. He has been practically unbeatable in bumpers and has maintained a great strike-rate throughout the season. He doesn"t seem to have any bad horses, they"ve stayed healthy all year and kept on winning. We were all aware of this going into the new season last year because a lot of his horses arrived in the spring and he has continued to produce equally as good, if not better, horses since so it will leave him in a very strong position for next season as well. There are less horses in training now compared to even 12 months ago, the numbers are definitely dwindling all the time, but Willie appears to have kept his numbers up and it will be a challenge to wrestle back the title. I would even suggest that we might see either a reduction in prizemoney or less racing over the next 12 months. Government funding for racing is down, but that wasn"t any surprise and I know that Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Brian Kavanagh will have the matter on the agenda for the next board meeting at the end of this month. Visit Noel Meade"s website: www.noelmeade.com