Trainer Noel Meade has decided not to run Road to Respect from Sunday’s Unibet Irish Gold Cup on Sunday, with a view of sending him straight to Cheltenham for the Gold Cup in March.
The horse won the Christmas Chase in December, but the judgement was that the going would be too tough for Road to Respect at the weekend.
Racing manager Eddie O’Leary said:
He’s grand, but the ground will be too soft for him. If it happened to come up the same as at Christmas he’d have run, but it won’t.
He’ll go straight to Cheltenham,
The Jessica Harrington trained Our Duke is set to go off as favourite on Sunday, with Anibale Fly and Killultagh Vic fancied second and third respectively.
In addition to Road to Respect, last year’s winner Sizing John – another horse from Ms Harrington’s stables – is also missing from the field.
This all comes at the first Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown.
