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No surprises in Ballymore field6th March 2008
All the major ante-post fancies have stood their ground in the Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle next Wednesday.
Aigle D'Or, Forpadydeplasterer, Group Captain, Breedsbreeze, Trafford Lad and Venalmar all appear among the 40 names that remain.
Muirhead, Deep Purple and Fiveforthree, all leading contenders for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle a day earlier also have this race as an option.
The Tother One, County Zen, Hold Em, Razor Royale and Whatuthink are also engaged.
But for Thomas Cooper, trainer of leading Irish contender Forpadydeplasterer, the forecast of rain ahead of the Festival has come as a welcome relief:
"I'm glad to see the forecast for rain" said Cooper.
"I always had a reservation that I wouldn't risk the horse on good ground because he is a big, rangy horse and his future lies over fences so I wasn't going to risk him."
"There's a couple of Irish horses that have a chance, Trafford Lad of Dusty Sheehy's and Mouse Morris' horse (Venalmar) comes into consideration as well. Mouse knows the time of day and he has trained plenty of winners at Cheltenham."