Samcro and Battleoverdoyen please in Punchestown school Samcro and Battleoverdoyen enjoyed a school over fences after racing at Punchestown on Wednesday and pleased connections. One of the most talked about jumpers in training, Samcro won his first seven races under rules before falling in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle in 2018 and failed to win in three outings last term. The Gordon Elliott-trained seven-year-old has not run since December, but is on course to return to action next month. “I understand everything went well with both of them,” said Eddie O’Leary of owner Gigginstown House Stud. “The plan for Samcro is to head up the north with him to Down Royal, the other lad would be more ground dependent. “Hopefully the real Samcro can show up this season, he’s had a full MOT and he’s had a breathing op. “We pulled stumps early last year — that could be a blessing in disguise and he wouldn’t have had his ground really in any case. Gordon seems happy with him.” Battleoverdoyen headed to Cheltenham in March for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle with leading claims having won a Grade One at Naas, but he was never going from an early stage. “It didn’t work out for Battleoverdoyen at Cheltenham, but he travelled over badly and wasn’t himself,” said O’Leary. “I haven’t had a discussion with Gordon yet about where he might start, but so far he’s going well.”
