Money well spent: supplemented Road To Respect returns with easy win

Business tycoon Michael O’Leary didn’t get to where he is today by spending money willy-nilly, and his latest investment of €14,000 to supplement Road To Respect into Down Royal’s JNwine.com Champion Chase proved as shrewd an investment as any as Noel Meade’s chaser galloped his way into the Gold Cup picture in Ireland’s first Grade 1 of the jumps season.

From the comfort of his swanky Ryanair headquarters at Dublin airport, O’Leary can observe his busy fleet of cargo take flight on a daily basis, and from wherever he was watching Saturday’s feature, there was little doubt he would have been on the edge of his seat as Road To Respect gave the fourth-last fence plenty of air.

From there, last season’s Gold Cup fourth was travelling all over long-time leader and eventual second Woodland Opera, and after clearing the last under Sean Flanagan, he stretched right away to provide the champion owners, who were responsible for four of the six runners, with a sixth success in the last seven runnings of the three-mile chase.

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Referencing that hair-raising moment where Road To Respect took flight four out, trainer Noel Meade said: “When he jumped that fence – an enormous leap – he just jumped onto the bridle. Sean said he was off the bridle and just juggling along and doing nothing in behind before that.

“He was only jumping ordinary up until that point but when he picked him up he went onto it straight away and latched onto the bridle. He was just cantering from there to the line really.”

Michael O'Leary: supplemented the winnerCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Meade added: “We knew he was in great form but we’ve never brought him to the races as heavy. He’s about 20 kilograms heavier than he is at his best and he’s done very well over the summer.

“The guys who have been looking after him, between Sean who has been riding him in work and my second-in-command Damian McGillick, were very confident."

Road To Respect was trimmed into odds of 14-1 (from 25) for the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup with Betfair and Meade added that Leopardstown is likely to be his next port of call.

“I’d presume it’ll be Christmas next for him. I’d imagine it’d be Leopardstown and then wherever after that,” he said.

“All roads will lead to the Gold Cup and whether he’d run in the Irish Gold Cup or not I don’t know. We’ll see, we’ll take it one day at a time.”

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