Brian Sheerin of the Racing Post had a lovely interview with Barry Maloney, owner of Minella Indo. Read the piece on the Racing Post website if you would like to get the full lowdown, it really is a fantastic insightful read.
Barry Maloney doesn’t have a huge amount of horses but he certainly tends to get some of the best out there. Last year’s Gold Cup hero Minella Indo wasn’t at his best on his return to action in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal when third behind Frodon. However, he was always going to need the run and March is the big target but Maloney has his sights set on Kempton.
He said: “Minella Indo definitely has the gears. If you look at him coming down the hill in the Albert Bartlett, Rachael was swinging out of him, he was absolutely flying. He’s got everything. He’s no slouch and we wouldn’t be going to Kempton if we didn’t think he’d handle the course.
“He’s a real challenge to get fit because he eats all around himself in the off season. He goes a bit mad and then Henry [de Bromhead] is tasked with trying to get him back fit. He will come on a lot for his comeback at Down Royal and we can already see that at home. He’s on the right track.”
“It’s just unbelievable to have a horse like Minella Indo. We are still pinching ourselves, to tell the truth. We really, really fancied Monalee for this race last year. Frodon would not have had a free run of things if Monalee had been in it. Rachael would have taken him on right from the beginning and that course would have really suited him.
“The King George is such an iconic race that we’ve always wanted to have a horse good enough to win it. After we had to take Monalee out last year I can remember saying to Henry at the time that, if we could get Minella Indo there at some point that would be great. Thankfully, so far, everything is on track and all things being equal, that’s where he will run.”
“My working assumption at the moment is that Rachael will ride him this Christmas and then we’ll see what happens when we get to the Gold Cup. The probability is that, after Christmas, he will go straight for the Gold Cup. That will be the plan.”
Maloney added: “You can take it that we think we will be competitive at Kempton. We’ve very excited. It’s going to be a tough race but, if our fella is on song, I’d rather be on him than anything else in the race.”
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