BETWAY: Davy Russell's inside track

Davy Russell, ambassador for leading online betting company Betway, looks back on a largely successful Cheltenham and previews his rides at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival.

If you’d have offered me two winners before the start of last week’s Cheltenham Festival, I’d have bitten your arm off, so I was delighted with how things went.

 

Diamond King

He’s spent most of the winter running on bad ground and we had a feeling that a nice surface would bring about more improvement.

You need plenty of luck in big field competitive handicap hurdles like that, and when they travel as well as he did, you always have a niggling worry that they won’t quicken.

However, he quickened up like a really good horse and did it nicely.

Mall Dini

I’ve always held him in high regard so it was nice to win a race like the Pertemps with him.

If I’m honest with you, I was slightly worried that the race was going to come a little too early in his career for him, but he proved me wrong.

He was another one we hoped would improve for the better ground and so it proved.

Hats off to trainer Patrick Kelly who delivered the horse to Cheltenham in serious order.

Zabana

With every high there is always a low and I was very disappointed with the way things turned out for Zabana in the JLT.

He was certainly another horse we thought would step up markedly on the better ground and it was gutting to be unshipped at the start like that.

If he’d fallen at the first, you could just take that on the chin and move on.

However, to be denied a run when everything looked right for him was heart-breaking.

He doesn’t run at Fairyhouse this weekend as there is too much rain about, so he’ll wait for some better ground and hopefully compensation awaits.

Don Poli

Just a word on Cheltenham Gold Cup third Don Poli who gave me a nice spin in Friday’s big one.

He just never really travelled for me early on in the race on good ground.

I just couldn’t seem to close up on the others and he only seemed to make inroads once his stamina started to kick in.

Take nothing away from the front two, as it rode like a serious race and they are obviously very smart.

Fairyhouse – Sunday

I’m looking forward to riding Cashelard Lady for Shane Crawley in the Grade One mares’ novice hurdle (3.05pm).

She was a useful bumper horse and it’s looking like she will be a smart hurdler too.

There is plenty of rain about which will suit and we will have to see how she gets on with the step up in trip.

She is a front runner who likes to go a good gallop, so I’ll be keen to make sure she still has enough in the tank to get home.

Her second place finish to Limini last time doesn’t look so bad now after that one’s exploits at Cheltenham last week.

Irish Grand National

It’s the Irish Grand National on Monday and it looks like I’ll be riding one of the favourites Mala Beach. The more rain, the better his chance – it’s as simple as that.

There seems to be plenty of it about which is good news.

He fell here last time when still going so well with the race virtually sown up.

He is an improving stayer and if he can reproduce his run from Gowran two starts back, he should put up a bold show.