This year’s Grade 3 Guinness Kerry National may well be the highest class renewal in the history of the €200,000 contest with dual Marsh Chase winner Fakir D’oudairies topping the weights (11-12), followed by Cheltenham Grade 1 victors The Real Whacker (11-10) and Flooring Porter (11-4).
Last year’s hero, Desertmore House, trained by Martin Brassil and ridden by Ricky Doyle, and his predecessor Busselton, with JJ Slevin on board the Joseph O’Brien-trained gelding as in 2022, will also be among the 18-strong field going to the tapes.
O’Brien, who saddled the 2021 winner Assemble too, is also the conditioner of Fakir D’oudairies, the JP McManus-owned nine-year-old that has four Grade 1 triumphs to his name.
Gavin Cromwell’s Flooring Porter is heading into just his second handicap over fences but the dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner, who also finished runner-up in last year’s renewal of the three-mile championship race at Cheltenham, is a high-class operator who is seen to best effect going left-handed.
He pleased connections with his comeback run in nearby Killarney in July and the three-time Grade 1 winner over hurdles is a live contender under Keith Donoghue.
The Real Whacker is the only British-trained representative but Paddy Neville is no stranger to the Harvest Festival or the Guinness Kerry National, as a native of nearby Askeaton, who saddled the runner-up Rightville Boy in 2016.
Neville relocated to England two years ago and within months, was readying The Real Whacker to beat Gerri Colombe in the Grade 1 Brown Advisory Novice Chase at Cheltenham in 2023.
“We are really looking forward to running The Real Whacker in the Guinness Kerry National,” said Neville.
“He is in great form, healthy and well and I think the track should suit him. It’s great to be heading back to Listowel with him. I’m going there all my life and it would be great to go one place better than 2016. It looks a great race but we are looking forward to it.”
Flooring Porter is joined by JP McManus-owned stablemate, Perceval Legallois, who is the selection of Mark Walsh and Cromwell is satisfied with the form of his pair.
“Flooring Porter seems in great form,” said Cromwell. “We’re happy with him and the ground should be ideal. Going left-handed is a big plus for him. We’ve trained him for this race for a long while so we’re looking forward to it and hopefully he’s going to run well.
“Perceval Legallois didn’t get the clearest of passages in the Galway Plate after missing the start and going a bit wide. He missed a couple of fences at the wrong time but ran well on the whole. With a clear run, hopefully he has a good chance. The ground should be fine. The more rain that comes, the better for him but it should be okay for him.”
Jack Kennedy rides Zanahiyr, one of five representatives from the Gordon Elliott yard that has produced two previous winners, both ridden by Lisa O’Neill, while the champion trainer/jockey combination of Willie Mullins and Paul Townend will be pinning their hopes on Horantzou D’airy.
The hugely popular Harvest Festival began on Sunday and continues until Saturday. It is the 166th year of the festival and the centrepiece looks set to be a fitting shop window.
