Horse racing Samcro odds-on after Ballymore run at Cheltenham Festival confirmed • ‘He runs in the Ballymore and that’s final,’ says Eddie O’Leary• Willie Mullins’s Getabird now favourite for Supreme Novice Hurdle Samcro and Jack Kennedy prove a winning combination in the Deloitte Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown on 4 February. Photograph: racingfotos.com/Rex/ShutterstockThe most significant question mark hanging over the Cheltenham Festival’s novice hurdles was removed on Monday, when Samcro, the brilliant winner of the two-mile Deloitte Hurdle this month, was confirmed as a runner in the Ballymore Novice Hurdle over an additional five furlongs. Eddie O’Leary, the racing manager to his brother Michael’s Gigginstown Stud racing operation, told the Racing Post the decision on Samcro would not be reconsidered. The news Samcro will line up on the second day of the Festival is also likely to have knock-on effects elsewhere. Samcro seems certain to be the first odds-on chance for the Ballymore this century.

Source: The Guardian February 19, 2018 18:33 UTC