Limerick fancy among entries for prized Kerry National at Listowel on Wednesday

AFTER Monday morning’s declarations, ante-post favourites You Oughta Know and Three Card Brag head the 18 runners for the €200,000 Guinness Kerry National at Listowel on Wednesday.

Willie Mullins’ You Oughta Know emerged as the leading contender for the festival’s feature event with a runaway 23-length win in a rated novice chase at Wexford a little over three weeks ago. The champion trainer is also represented by the two-time chase winner Arctic Fly and the novice Spanish Harlem.

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Expected to give the Mullins contingent most to do is Gordon Elliott’s Three Card Brag which is hoping to bounce back from a luckless run in the Tote Galway Plate. Elliott is also responsible for top-weight Pied Piper with his team of four completed by Duffle Coat and Shecouldbeanything.

For the third year running, the Guinness Kerry National has attracted a runner from across the Irish Sea and taking his chance on his first start for Mickey Bowen is the nine-year-old Light N Strike, formerly trained by Emma Lavelle.

Monbeg Park will have his first start for rookie trainer Jack Foley with French Dynamite another running for a new trainer, Eric McNamara, a three-time winner of the race.

Joseph O'Brien’s 2022 winner Busselton is the second reserve but the Piltown trainer will be represented by San Salvador, while the consistent Le Coq Hardi lines out for Henry de Bromhead who is also responsible for the first reserve, the Grade 2 mares’ novice chase winner Nara.

The Ken Budds-trained Cheltenham Festival runner-up Anyway finished in front of You Ought Know when winning at Kilbeggan in June and he’s another intriguing contender, with Padraig Roche’s Outside The Door also falling into that category after his wide-margin success last time. Gavin Cromwell runs Thecompanysergeant.

The Guinness Kerry National features on a seven-race card at Listowel on Wednesday where the first race begins at 2.05pm. The Harvest Festival continues at Listowel until Saturday with live coverage on TG4 and RacingTV each afternoon.