Road To Respect on course for the Punchestown Gold Cup
Noel Meade reports Road To Respect to be in good form ahead of his planned run in the Punchestown Gold Cup, although stablemate Disko will not run in the race.
ROAD TO RESPECT remains on target to run in the Coral Punchestown Gold Cup on Wednesday.
Noel Meade's seven-year-old was not disgraced in finishing fourth in last month's Cheltenham Gold Cup and put together a superb couple of runs earlier in the campaign, culminating in a win in the Leopardstown Christmas Chase, formerly known as the Lexus.
Meade has kept Road To Respect fresh since his exertions at Cheltenham and hopes his charge can round off his season on a winning note in the equivalent race at Punchestown.
Meade told At The Races: "He's great. We've had a great run with him since Cheltenham.
"He's not a horse that takes a lot of work. He just has one piece of work to do before he runs and so far everything has gone very much to plan.
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"We decided after Cheltenham that we were going to skip Liverpool (Aintree), so that worked out well enough.
"He had an easy enough time for a while and we're just building him back up now."
Road To Respect's stablemate Disko has been absent since making a successful start to his campaign at Down Royal in November.
Unfortunately, he has suffered another setback and will not run again this season.
Templegate's TV tips
1.50 Newmarket - Dragons Tail: 'His trainer is in great form so fitness shouldn’t be a problem'
2.25 Newmarket - Suyra: 'Beautifully bred, his dad is Frankel and his mum Sariska won the Oaks'
2.40 Cheltenham - Aunty Ann: 'She has clearly been waiting for the sun to shine and now she can make hay'
3.00 Newmarket - Magical Memory: 'Won this race two years ago and he’s got a great record in Group 3 races'
3.35 Newmarket - Roaring Lion: 'Moved like a top-class horse when narrowly denied in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy'
Meade added: "It was going to be close anyway, whether he was going to get there (Punchestown) or not, and things just haven't worked out.
"He's tweaked a muscle behind and that's it now - we'll have to leave him until next season.
"Even though he hasn't done much this season, he seems to have matured an awful lot and is very strong and big.
"He might be an even better horse in time."