THE star of the British hunter chase season to date is the 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up, Minella Rocco, who is trained for J.P. McManus by Jonjo O’Neill. During the period under review, the 10-year-old Shirocco gelding won twice.

On January 22nd at Warwick, where he was ridden by Áine O’Connor, the bay beat Kashmir Peak, who was making his seasonal debut, by seven and a half lengths. At Wetherby last Saturday, when Derek O’Connor was in the saddle, Minella Rocco, who was in receipt of 4lbs, saw off last year’s Cheltenham Foxhunter Chase winner, Hazel Hill, by one and a half lengths.

Now qualified for the ‘amateur Gold Cup’ at Prestbury Park, which will be his next start, Minella Rocco was bred in Co Wicklow by Eclipse Bloodstock and Gary and Colin Hadden. He is the ninth of 11 foals out of the listed-placed Alleged mare Petralona, an own-sister to the Group 3 winner Eva Luna who is the dam of Brian Boru.

Minella Rocco, who won the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham in 2016 under O’Connor, is a half-brother to Big Moment (by Be My Guest), who won three times both on the flat and over hurdles, and the ill-fated Pressgang (by Unfuwain) who won a bumper and a chase and was second, beaten a head by Hairy Molly, in the Grade 1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the 2006 Cheltenham Festival.

High-class winner

A more recent high-class and sadly also ill-fated winner out of Petralona was the Oscar mare Sinoria and another of her foals is Culprit (by Night Shift) who was unraced but found a position at stud covering sport horse mares. He stands in Co Galway with T.J. Walsh of Clonlee, Loughrea.

The Rose Loxton-trained Virak, who commenced his campaign with an open win at Larkhill in early January, won the hunter chase at Wincanton at the end of last month. In both instances, the French-bred gelding was ridden by Natalie Parker.

Last Saturday, Parker was on board the Paul Nicholls-trained favourite, Southfield Vic, who was beaten two lengths into second in the hunter chase at Musselburgh by the Will Ramsay-owned, trained and ridden Mr Mercurial. This 12-year-old Westerner gelding was bred by Patrick Davern out of the Presenting mare, Arcanum.