'I've seen a few pictures' - Harry Cobden makes first trip to Ireland's most scenic racecourse for one ride for JP McManus

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Harry Cobden is on a whistlestop tour of Ireland’s regional tracks courtesy of his new job as JP McManus’s retained rider, and next up is Killarney for a spin on Gentleman De Mee in the Grade 3 BoyleSports An Riocht Chase.

The top jockey ticked Wexford off his list on Thursday when unsuccessful on Karoline Banbou, and the 27-year-old will be hoping his expedition to one of Ireland's most picturesque tracks is more fruitful.

“I’ve never been there, but I’ve seen a few pictures and I’ve got a good ride, so I’m definitely looking forward to it,” said Cobden. 

"I don’t mind the travelling. There’s obviously a lot of travelling in Britain anyway. The other day, it took me eight hours to get home from Perth, so sometimes when you go to Ireland, it’s actually faster than going to some of the northern British tracks."

On his new role, Cobden added: “I’m loving the job at the moment. Hopefully, we can learn a lot and have a bit of success along the way in the next few months.”

The parade ring at KillarneyCredit: Justin O'Hanlon

Gentleman De Mee comes alive at this time of year and the dual Grade 1-winning chaser showed signs of that when fourth of 27 over the Grand National fences in the Topham Chase last month.

Successful in the 2025 running of that contest, it was an encouraging show by the ten-year-old after being beaten out of sight on his three previous starts in the campaign. He will line up at Killarney as the joint-top rated of the race, but his sole other visit to the track suggests punters should be wary.

Gentleman De Mee was clear on ratings in the 2024 running of the An Riocht Chase, but finished well beaten in third at 8-11.

“Gentleman De Mee ran very well in the Topham,” said Cobden. “He’s been around a good bit now, but he looks to have a good chance. There are a couple in there with similar ratings, so let’s see what happens.”

Harry Cobden has one ride for new boss JP McManus at KillarneyCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

If Cobden is to make a successful Killarney debut on the Willie Mullins-trained runner, he will need to deny three contenders from Gordon Elliott's stable.

On riding arrangements, Sa Fureur appears to be the pick of them. The dual-winning chaser ran his second-best race on Racing Post Ratings when a close second to Impaire Et Passe at Gowran Park in February, and Jack Kennedy has not been put off by two lesser efforts since.

Three Card Brag (Sam Ewing) and Maxxum (Danny Gilligan) are the other Elliott runners bidding to be Cobden party-poopers, while the Noel Meade-trained Jesse Evans could be Gentleman De Mee's main market rival.

Read more . . .

Sainte Lucie stars for Mullins and Townend while Enda Bolger wins his fourth Killarney National in a decade 

Mark Walsh signs off from JP McManus role in style on Saratoga as Padraig Roche gains first Grade 1 win 

End of an era for Harry Cobden and Paul Nicholls - who is their best chance of bowing out together with a winner? 

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