Road To Respect
Road To Respect ran put up a fine performance to finish fourth in the Grade 1 Drinmore Chase at Fairyhouse last Sunday.
Settled nicely just behind the leaders and towards the outside, his jumping was good, if a little to his left on occasion, but he still travelled well to the home turn. Six of the seven runners were in with a chance on the run to the second last, and it appeared as though Road To Respect was just done for pace by Coney Island and Anibale Fly on the run to the last. Even so, he still kept on well all the way to the line to take fourth place behind the JP McManus pair and fellow Gigginstown House horse Alpha Des Obeaux.
The Drinmore Chase is usually a top race, a top pointer for the staying novice chasers for later in the season and, while there was no obvious superstar in the line-up this year, it was still a high-class race and at least one superstar could emerge from it. Road To Respect was not among the more fashionable horses going into the race, but he was solid in the pre-race market and he ran a solid race.
Out of a half-sister to Road To Riches, he looks like an improved horse this year for Road To Riches' trainer Noel Meade and since he has gone over fences. He managed to win just one of his seven races over hurdles - he did finish second to Yorkhill on his second run in that sphere - but he was impressive in winning his beginners' chase at Naas last month on his debut over fences, when he beat the better-fancied Gigginstown House horse Prince Of Scars, who had beaten Alpha Des Obeaux in the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown last December.
It is probably as a staying chaser that Road To Respect's future lies. He is only five years old and this was just his second chase, so he should continue to progress. A winner over two miles and six furlongs on heavy ground over hurdles, he should progress again for stepping up from this two-and-a-half-mile trip, and he could do even better back on a left-handed track.
4th December 2016
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