Michael O’Leary hoping Identity Thief can steal win at Newcastle

Henry De Bromhead’s career haul of Grade 1 victories currently stands at 13 but the in-form trainer will hope Identity Thief proves a lucky raider on Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

All but two of the Co Waterford trainer’s top-flight tally have come over fences with Sizing Europe notably scoring on five occasions. The retired star also secured a famous Irish Champion Hurdle success in 2008 while Sizing John scored over flights last season.

Such a record mirrors Michael O’Leary’s own steeplechase focus, but De Bromhead and the Ryanair boss have supplemented Identity Thief into Saturday’s Grade 1 feature alongside another supplemented Irish raider, Wicklow Brave.

Both Ruby Walsh and Bryan Cooper have skipped Newbury’s Hennessy Gold Cup for a trip to Newcastle and while Wicklow Brave is about to have his 12th start of 2015, Identity Thief is still a relatively unknown quantity, having had just half a dozen starts in total.

The last of them at Down Royal a month ago was enough for some bookmakers to hand him a 33-1 Champion Hurdle quote but the Fighting Fifth represents a substantial step-up.

“We like him so we just want to see where he fits in,” De Bromhead said.

Cooper has never ridden at Newcastle before, but partnered First Lieutenant into third in the 2012 Hennessy, a race Gigginstown’s popular veteran attempts to win again, this time under Mark Enright.

Market-leaders

Bobs Worth won that 2012 Hennessy and is again among the market-leaders, unlike the other Irish declaration, Urano, the mount of Danny Mullins.

Urano is Willie Mullins’s latest attempt to settle an old Hennessy score after his Be My Royal lost the prestigious handicap in 2002 due to a positive test for a banned substance.

The last official Irish trained winner was Bright Highway in 1980.