Padraig Roche receives plenty of JP McManus horses from the O'Briens and he normally does very well with them, including the three examples below:
Champion Green was also a very useful hurdler for O'Brien, beating 17 rivals in a maiden hurdle over today's course and distance before promptly being entered in the Fred Winter alongside his new stablemate, Brazil, the eventual winner.
Champion Green eventually finished 11th of the 21 runners, but that does not tell the full story because he looked capable of a possible frame finish before almost coming down at the final hurdle and losing all chance of a prominent placing.
16:40 (Naas) Champion Green
Only four of the 21 runners were shorter than him in the betting for that valuable contest, so he was clearly expected to go well and he would have done so but for his bad blunder at the last.
The first four finishers are all now rated well above today's standard (the front pair are rated 142 and 153) and there seems no reason why Roche can't do exactly the same sort of thing with Champion Green as he has done with Brazil and others.
Off a three pounds lower mark than at Cheltenham, Champion Green, one of only two five-year-olds in the line-up (five-year-olds have won the last two renewals of this), looked to have been underestimated in the early markets.
Of the others, both Hey Johnny and Neveradullmoment deserve their prominent places in the market with the former looking the stronger bet, partly by virtue of the fact that he is better suited to this drying ground.
He won a small-field handicap very easily at Thurles last month before putting in an eye-catching display in finishing a never-nearer fifth of 17 in the Grade B Liffey Handicap at Leopardstown early this month.
That was over two miles on yielding ground and he looked as though he could have done with a more testing track under the conditions, which he has here, and he is only a pound higher under the same rider.
Next best bet: Hey Johnny
