Trainer Jonjo O’Neill believes that Garry Clermont could surprise in the Coral Cup if “things go right on the day for him.”
The outsider takes to Cheltenham Racecourse on Wednesday in the 2:50pm race, ridden by his son Jonjo O’Neill Jr. But the trainer has been left frustrated with the 7-year-old recently.
He said: “He’s a bit frustrating this year really. He should’ve won maybe one or two but his luck wasn’t with him really on the day.
“He’s in good form, he has ability, a lot of ability. Whether he puts it all together on the right day, that’s what we’re looking for really. So we’re looking for a good run.”
The horse seems to be better suited to good and soft ground which O’Neill will be hoping for ahead of the race. With the hope of good weather, O’Neill then went on to say that Garry Clermont could be in for a positive race if everything were to go right for him on the day.
“Maybe he thinks better than we do really, and maybe the race isn’t always run to suit,” said O’Neill. “You get horses like that, that just need the race run to suit them and that doesn’t always happen, when it happens they’re quite good.
“He has the ability, he has a fair bit of ability but he seems to be hard to win, hopefully it’ll all happen on the right day.”
“I hope you’re right [handicap advantage], he is a fair horse and he has ability, and we like him a lot really but it’s just whether things go right on the day for him.”
In 13 runs, Garry Clermont has won four, with three coming in hurdles, and has placed nine times, which should certainly see him in contention as the racing enters day two at Cheltenham. We enjoyed a thrilling first day, as Constitution Hill won the opener, and the second day holds loads of promise.
Don’t miss a moment of the action, here on The Sportsman.
