Ruby Walsh isn't expecting any surprises in the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.
Kopek Des Bordes, trained by Willie Mullins, has been a warm order for the Festival opener since running away with a Grade One at the Dublin Racing Festival.
At cramped odds some pundits are inevitably looking for chinks in his armour and Kopek Des Bordes didn't handle the preliminaries perfectly at Leopardstown and there are concerns that the intense atmosphere of the Cheltenham Festival could see Kopek Des Bordes lose his race before the tapes go up for the Supreme.
Mullins has declared Kopek Des Bordes with a hood which came as no surprise to Walsh when asked about that decision on the From The Horse's Mouth Podcast, hosted by Patrick Kennelly, where they were joined by Rory Delargy.
"No no major surprise, just to try and keep the lid on him a little bit," Walsh replied.
"I actually thought a couple of weeks back this would be a much bigger field than it is down to 12, slightly disappointing I suppose, very few English horses, just the two English runners, but Kopek Des Bordes has been doing everything really well at home.
"Pace in the race, probably Workahead, I can’t see Romeo Coolio being too far off the pace either, he likes a really strong gallop so it should be a good, straightforward race, Salvator Mundi I would imagine will take his time, Irancy has had a bit of a layoff, he hasn’t run since November 15 so you’d be kind of hoping that he’s ready enough for this.
"But it’s hard to get away from Kopek Des Bordes, I was hoping though that there would be a solid 15/16 runners, you might get odds against."
Mullins runs six in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle but Walsh doesn't expect the other quintet to outperform their odds.
"I don’t really," he commented.
"Karbau will be very close to the pace, Funiculi Funicula has a fair bit to improve and Karniquet was no match for Kopek Des Bordes at Cheltenham so no I would say William Munny, Romeo Coolio, they’re pretty good horses so’s Salvator Mundi, I think the outsiders of Willie’s might struggle."
Walsh, Delargy and Kennelly run through the whole of Tuesday's card at the Cheltenham Festival, providing their views and selections for every race and you can watch the From The Horse's Mouth Podcast: Cheltenham Day 1 Tipping on the Paddy Power Racing YouTube Channel below.
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