THERE will be a long overdue honouring of the great Danoli at Gowran Park next month when the track’s Grade 2 PWC Champion Chase will be renamed in his memory.

One of the most popular Irish-trained horses of all time, the 1997 Hennessy Gold Cup winner had strong local ties to Gowran, being trained close by with Tom Foley and a poignant winner at the same track of the Red Mills Trial Hurdle in front of a massive crowd in 1996.

The upcoming Grade 2 event has been won by star names in the past, such as Dorans Pride, Kicking King and Sizing Europe, and last year featured Grade 1 winners Western Fold and Affordale Fury. It will be run on October 3rd as the Grade 2 PWC Danoli Champion Chase.

Gowran Park manager Eddie Scally told The Irish Field: “We feel like it’s a fitting way of marking Danoli’s achievements. To us, he has always felt like a Gowran horse and we wanted to honour him.

“He obviously won at the track before but he also was brought into the parade ring to be blessed by the priest ahead of a trip to Cheltenham before. He was a very special horse for so many people around here.

“The O’Neill and Foley families are still very much connected to what we do here. A special word of thanks goes to Barry Doyle of Champ.ie who gave this initiative a great push.” The temporary closure of Tipperary while redevelopment takes place for the track’s new all-weather course has come with bonus races for the Co Kilkenny venue.

“We’re looking forward to a great day of racing here on October 3rd, and we also race on Friday, October 2nd [including the Listed Mucklemeg Mares Bumper]. We’ve got a strong listed and graded programme of races.

“On the Saturday [which includes the Champion Chase], we’ve inherited the Grade 3 Like A Butterfly Novice Chase and Grade 3 Joe Mac Novice Hurdle from Tipperary, as well as the Listed Tipperary Hurdle.

“The ground is in a lovely place and looks like the easy side of good.”