Prince Of Fire

Prince Of Fire has always been a horse held in high regard, and there was enough about his run behind Tawaagg in a two-mile-two-furlong beginners' chase at Gowran Park on Saturday to suggest that there could be a decent prize to be won with him over fences. Held up by David Casey, he travelled and jumped fairly well, and made nice progress up to the leaders just before the straight. There were any number of horses in with a chance going to the third last, but Prince Of Fire was one of the few still travelling well. However he made a bad mistake at that fence, he just stumbled on landing and it probably cost him a winning chance. He did stay on well still from there though, after he was able to get his momentum back, to be nearest at the finish.

After winning his maiden hurdle at Leopardstown back in December 2009, Charlie Swan described Prince Of Fire as the best horse he has ever trained. It is fairly obvious that the son of Waky Nao has proved a disappointment in that context, but there was enough evidence from his run here to suggest he could be a useful chaser now. While it’s unlikely he would have troubled the favourite Tawaagg, an impressive winner on the day, he surely would have finished a lot closer had he not made that mistake. He has actually only run 10 times in total in his career, he is only six, and this was just his fourth start over fences. He has plenty of scope for progression. Some of his hurdles form is very good, he beat the useful Grey Soldier when winning his maiden at Leopardstown, before getting close to the talented Un Hinged on his next start at Navan. He is worth persevering with over fences.

19th February 2011

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