FERGAL O’BRIEN has a secret weapon up his sleeve ahead of the Cheltenham Festival — his daughter Fern.
Local trainer O’Brien is looking for his first ever Festival winner and hopes his undercover agent can help Dysart Enos triumph in the Dawn Run.
Young gun Fern, 18, is working behind enemy lines at Willie Mullins’ all-conquering Closutton yard and, as always, Mullins is the one to beat.
The Irish trainer has won the Mares’ Novice five times since it was brought in in 2018 and has this year’s favourite in Jade De Grugy.
Yet O’Brien, 51, is confident Dysart Enos, who is three from three over hurdles, can land a blow.
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He grinned: “We’ve tried to avoid a penalty by missing Graded races and the owners have been very understanding.
“My daughter Fern looks after and leads up Willie’s Fun Fun Fun, one of the main dangers, so I was delighted to see her win a Listed race so she has a penalty too.
“It’s a very competitive race. Brighterdaysahead is the main worry and people are sleeping on Jeremy Scott’s Golden Ace too.
“We need everything in our favour to be winning but if she turns up at her best she’ll definitely be in the mix.”
Fern, a conditional jockey, is spending the season with Mullins and Fergal is hoping she’ll come back with some trade secrets.
O’Brien said: “Fern works very hard and had a nice ride for Willie in a bumper this month.
“It fills me with a lot of pride, I’ve been over there a few times and they all work extremely hard.
“She’ll have been there eight or ten months by the time she comes back and she’ll bring things over we can use to help in certain situations.
“She’s having a great time over there and learning plenty too, so hopefully it’ll work out for both of us in the long run!”
O’Brien will also lead the British charge in the Stayers’ Hurdle with Long Walk winner Crambo. His improver has been kept on his toes by a range of away days and it’s a case of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ for O’Brien.
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O’Brien said: “He had a hard race at Ascot but we’ve given him time to get over it and he’s back in full work.
“He’s such a relaxed horse at home and getting him into the lorry and heading somewhere else really sparks him into life.
“We go to Martin Keighley’s yard quite a bit and also travel down to Lambourn too - racecourse gallops are tough with the weather right now.”
Crambo is a general 11-2 shot for the Stayers’ Hurdle and O’Brien is quietly confident about his chances.
He added: “I really hope he runs well. If he runs anywhere near his Long Walk form he’ll be going close because he’ll improve for going head to head with proper horses.
“Cheltenham is a place that really seems to light him up. I’d never seen him travel and jump as well as he did at Ascot and I hope he’ll do the same at Cheltenham.”
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