Arkle ace Footpad makes point-to-point return

Footpad: sold to the United States last year

Footpad, who looked a potential superstar when storming away with the Arkle at the 2018 Cheltenham Festival, will make his first appearance in more than a year on Sunday when he lines up in a point-to-point at an unheralded venue in Virginia some 40 miles from The White House.

A son of Creachadoir, Footpad began his career in France before joining Willie Mullins and developing into a smart hurdler, although it was over fences when he produced a wow moment, tearing away with the Arkle under Ruby Walsh, who was sporting the familiar two-tone green silks of leading owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

His last appearance for those connections came when he finished second at Thurles in a Grade 2 in January 2020 and then a deal was completed for him to transfer to top US jumps trainer Jack Fisher.

A multiple champion and regular topper of the money list in that code in the States, Fisher takes the wraps off the nine-year-old in a race at the Loudoun Hunt point-to-point at Morven Park in Leesburg, a picturesque town home to around 50,000 people.

Now owned by Harold A Via jnr, Footpad will contest a 2m2f hurdle, which is due off at 6.30pm BST, but Fisher is not necessarily expecting fireworks.

"I don't care where he finishes," said the 57-year-old.

"He settled in good, but we didn't run him last year because of Covid-19 and the cancellations at Far Hills, while I didn't think Saratoga was his track. He can just have a run around; there's no pressure.

"He'll then run in the Grade 3 Temple Gwathmey Hurdle at Middleburg in two weeks, the Virginia Gold Cup at the end of May and then the Iroquois."

Ruby Walsh salutes Footpad after their Arkle stroll

Edward Whitaker

The $100,000 Grade 1 Calvin Houghland Iroquois at Percy Warner Park in Nashville Tennessee on June 26 is a race Mullins alumni Shaneshill and Nichols Canyon finished second and third in five years ago.

"I think that will be more his track, definitely in May, although whether the ground changes in June, which it probably will," the Maryland native added.

Footpad, the mount of Sean McDermott, faces ex-Alan King inmate Gibralfaro and Mr Singh, runner-up in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2015 when trained by John Gosden for Lady Bamford.

Fisher could still hold the key, though, and said: "I have another horse in the race, Snap Decision, who has won seven in a row and looks like a superstar, so we'll see which one is better out of him and Footpad."

Tom Garner, who has forged a successful career in the States, winning three Grade 1s, Bryony Frost's older brother Hadden, Graham Watters, who rode for Lucinda Russell and Charlie Longsdon in Britain, and Ross Geraghty, Barry's brother, are jockeys in action who will resonate with racing fans on this side of the Atlantic.

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