PADDY FITZ THE BILL

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Dec 7, 2008 | by gary NUTTING

MICK FITZGERALD is backing Paddy Brennan and Imperial Commander to reign supreme at Cheltenham again this week.

Fresh from their stunning success in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, Brennan is brimming with confidence about his prospects in the Boylesports Gold Cup over the same course and distance on Saturday.

Fitzgerald completed the same double on the fleetfooted Fondmort and he sees similarities between his old favourite and Nigel Twiston- Davies's fastemerging seven-year-old.

"Fondmort loved to attack his fences and really came into his own round Cheltenham, where you have to jump and travel at speed," said Fitzgerald, "and you could not fail to be impressed by the way Imperial Commander won the Paddy Power.

"He's already a Cheltenham specialist, having won four times there, and he looks open to improvement considering that was only his fourth start over fences.

"The handicapper has put him up 13lb for that last win, but I doubt it will be enough to stop him.

"He beat another improving young horse in Barbers Shop - who I know well having won four times on him before I retired - and the form looks rock-solid."

Fitzgerald knows how important it is for up-and-coming jockeys to grab their chance on the big stage and has no doubts that Brennan, 27, will continue to revel in the spotlight. "Paddy has settled very well into the job as Nigel's stable jockey and it's given him the chance to ride some top horses," added Fitzgerald.

"Like Tony McCoy, he learned a lot when he was at Jim Bolger's yard and I know he's a big AP fan so he's bound to have picked up things from him.

"He can be a little too intense, which can work against you because it's important to be relaxed, but the good thing is that he knows that and it's something he's working on.

"The main thing is he's young, ambitious and eager to improve - just the qualities a jockey needs if he's to make it to the top." In his recent autobiography Better Than Sex - a reference to his immortal quote after winning the 1996 Grand National on Rough Quest - Fitzgerald recalls how it took him a while to adjust to the spotlight after landing the job as Nicky Henderson's stable jockey.

"I'd taken over from Richard Dunwoody, who was the best jockey I'd seen, and I was trying to ride like him rather than be myself," he told me. "It was only when I changed that mindset that I started to thrive.

"If I have one piece of advice for Paddy, that would be it. He needs to work on things he's learned from watching other jockeys but still develop his own style and be his own man.

"If he does that he could be champion jockey one day because he's already in the top five."

Nutting's Notebook

TRICK Y TRICKSTER

(5yo gelding, N Twiston-Davies)

Lightly-raced bumper winner who ran a blinder to finish second in competitive Newbury handicap on chasing debut. Has plenty of size and scope, so is unlikely to be troubled by 5lb weights rise.

SARDE

(4yo gelding, K Bailey)

Stayed on strongly to chase home hot favourite in big-field 3m handicap hurdle at Newbury and trainer expects this French import to improve significantly when he goes over fences.