Fakir D'Oudairies 'in great nick' for defence of Melling Chase at Aintree

Connections of Fakir D'Oudairies may have breathed a sigh of relief after avoiding another Allaho masterclass in the Ryanair Chase earlier this month, but instant compensation could be forthcoming at Aintree where their triple Grade 1 hero defends his Melling Chase crown next week.

It was hardly a major surprise that taking on the all-conquering Allaho wasn't an overly attractive proposition for JP McManus's Ascot Chase winner, and the decision to skip Cheltenham now looks a wise one.

Fakir D'Oudairies has met Allaho in three of his last seven starts, with the scoreline 3-0 in favour of Cheveley Park's relentless galloper. When not taking on Allaho during the same period, form figures for the Joseph O'Brien-trained chaser read 1311.

Joseph O'Brien on Fakir D'Oudairies: 'He's on course for Aintree and is in great nick'Credit: Pool

Regardless of whether Mullins opts to send Allaho to Aintree for the Marsh-backed 2m4f contest, O'Brien says his jumps flagbearer will be primed for a Liverpool repeat.

He would become the sixth horse to win the race on back-to-back occasions if striking on Friday week, following in the footsteps of Viking Flagship, Direct Route, Native Upmanship, Moscow Flyer and Voy Por Ustedes.

O'Brien said: "He's on course for Aintree and in great nick. We trained him with the thought that he could go to Cheltenham, and to see what was happening late on.

"JP and Frank [Berry, racing manager to McManus] decided that it made most sense to go to Aintree instead, and I think it does."

He added: "If taking on Allaho at Cheltenham, realistically speaking, you were probably running for second. Looking at his performance in the Ryanair, it's probably what we would have been doing. Instead, we're heading to Aintree with a fresh horse."

Assemble: landed this season's Kerry National for Shane Fitzgerald and Joseph O'BrienCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

O'Brien's Owning Hill operation has become increasingly Flat focused in recent seasons and that is likely to continue going forward.

"We're actually having one of our best jumps seasons this year, but I won't have a lot of jumpers for the next few years," said O'Brien.

"We had a good summer but a lot of those horses were sold or moved on. I think we have 20 jumpers who'll probably be around next year.

"I don't believe that on a big scale you can do the Flat and jumps without them having a little impact on each other."

O'Brien added: "We have a big number of stables and horses here and I didn't want to build any more stables. We had to concentrate on one or the other, and the Flat is what I've grown up in.

"It makes a lot more sense to do this when you can. I'd imagine I'll always have a few homebreds going forward too."

Banbridge: won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham for Mark McDonagh and Joseph O'BrienCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

O'Brien was second in the Irish Flat trainers' championship for the fourth season in succession last year, finishing €886,930 adrift of his father Aidan on prize-money but beating the Ballydoyle maestro in terms of numerical winners by 108 to 88.

A title bid is not on the 28-year-old's mind this season, though, despite having arguably his best Flat squad.

O'Brien said: "You always think going into every season that you're stronger this year than last year, but I think we have a nice team.

"We have a nice spread of three-year-olds. We might be a bit light on sprinters but hopefully we have a good bunch who could turn out to be nice three-year-olds and four-year-olds."

Read more . . .

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