No bumper horse has impressed me more this season than Shot From The Hip, and it will take something extremely special to lower his colours in this.
Edwrad O' Grady knows what it takes to win this contest having sent out Pizzaro to land the 2002 running, and in Shot From The Hip he looks to have a horse that could go right to the very top.
The six-year-old looked good when winning on his debut at Clonmel last September, but it was his victory at Leopardstown at the end of last month which really took the breath away.
In what looked a really hot contest on paper beforehand he was sent off a relatively unfancied 6-1 after his long lay off, but defied those odds in no uncertain style to storm home an emphatic three length winner from the very highly regarded Aucaria and Acey.
The race was a fast run affair given the testing conditions, and as he was up with the leaders all the way you would have thought that he would have weakened when push come to shove.
But the exact opposite happened and he showed a devastating turn of foot to quicken clear a furlong out and score easing down with any amount in hand.
The third horse, Acey, went on to frank the form in great style at Limerick last weekend, and given the fact that he is open to bags of improvement I cannot see any reason why Shot From The Hip will not follow up in this.
John Kieley's Frawley and Dermot Weld's Elegant Concorde could be the ones to chase him home, but at 7-1 Shot From The Hip is a confident selection.
Recommended bet: 4pts win Shot From The Hip (7-1 Paddypower, Ladbrokes)
