RACING NEWS: WITH JUST 10 days to go to the start of Cheltenham, the festival countdown continues at Leopardstown tomorrow where the traditional post-racing gallop sessions will again include the former dual-Champion Hurdle winner Hardy Eustace.
Other horses expected to appear are the 2007 Champion Hurdler Sublimity, as well as a number of Willie Mullins’ powerful bumper team.
Dessie Hughes is again hoping that working at the Co Dublin track will set Hardy Eustace up for another crack at the Champion Hurdle. Hardy Eustace also has the option of the World Hurdle over three miles, but Hughes believes the Champion could be the better option if the horse travels.
“Looking at the race, Binocular looks to stand out, but if my horse is really on-song, he would look to be as good as the rest of them. I’m leaning towards the Champion,” the Curragh trainer said yesterday.
“He’s nearly certain to go to Cheltenham now as he looks to be coming back to himself. It’s nice to go to Leopardstown because the timing is right just nine or 10 days before Cheltenham.”
Up to 50 horses are due to work or school over fences on ground that was yielding yesterday, and which could dry out a little more by tomorrow evening.
Some festival tickets could also be booked during racing itself, particularly in the concluding bumper which sees the course and distance winner Tornedo Shay attempt to lower his Cheltenham odds which are a general 20 to 1.
Thomond O’Mara described Tornedo Shay as the best he has trained after his debut victory in January, but the horse faces both a Willie Mullins runner and a representative from Dermot Weld’s yard which between them have dominated bumpers in the last few weeks.
Rite Of Passage is the shortest Weld contender in the Weatherbys at Cheltenham, but Universal Truth is also highly regarded and should improve from his Punchestown debut on this better ground.
The most valuable race on the card is the €47,500 Mick Holly Handicap Chase, and this two miles and five should be ideal for Conem based on his last appearance here. It took a vintage Ruby Walsh effort for him to nail Major Sensation on the line over three furlongs shorter, so despite a 5lb hike in the ratings Conem can confirm the form.
Better ground could be the key to Majestic Concorde landing the novice chase, although Deutschland, eighth in the Pierse Hurdle, is a dangerous opponent.
A former Cheltenham festival winner in Ebaziyan appears in the Ballsbridge Hurdle, where Willie Mullins’ grey faces just three opponents.
They include the former Pierse and Totesport Hurdle winner Essex, who has his first start in 556 days, and on fitness alone the 2006 Supreme winner should hold the edge.
Better going should be ideal for Top Mark, who can carry an 8lb penalty for winning at Clonmel last time, in the two-mile handicap hurdle, while the step back up to two and a half miles can suit Stewarts House in the opener.
