With a jackpot of £3,000 being carried over, punters will be hoping that Thurles passes a 7.00 precautionary inspection this morning, and the first odds of the day look to be in their favour.
The Thurles manager Pierce Molony said yesterday evening: "We could have raced at 7.45 this morning and I'm confident we'll be OK. The slight worry is that there was freezing fog all day in Toomevara, which is not a million miles from here, and if the same happened here tomorrow, there might be a concern."
Presuming the track does get the go-ahead, it may not be long before the bookmakers have a particularly chilly result.
Curragh trainer Dermot Kelly sends Magical Lady for the opening Beginners Chase, and although this five year old hasn't raced over fences since March, she does look something to bet on.
The versatile Magical Lady certainly won't lack for fitness, for she ran out a particularly impressive winner of a nine-furlong handicap at the Curragh in October. On that occasion, she drew right away from Rince Abhann to win by four and a half lengths.
Magical Lady showed she is no back number over fences, though, when she jumped well around the stiff Navan track in early March to finish runner-up to Livin It Up, with the rest of the field strung out. The main danger today looks to be Kilcco Boy, a good winner from Go Roger Go in a novice hurdle at Naas in March, but Magical Lady could have the edge in match practice and is preferred.
Magical Lady's rider Garrett Cotter could also be on the mark with Fifth Generation in the following handicap chase. The Donal Hassett-trained horse can confirm his Clonmel defeat of Interim Account 11 days ago.
Charlie Swan is unlikely to let Cotter hog the winner's enclosure, and the champion looks to have the potential for a double of his own, courtesy of Blasket Sound in the conditions hurdle and Blackburn in the maiden hurdle.
Blasket Sound, King's Luck and Glin Castle should, on the book, finish almost on top of each other, and, in the circumstances, this could be too competitive a contest to get overly serious about financially. However, Blasket Sound is emerging as an admirably consistent performer and could be the safest investment.
Blackburn also has a tough assignment on his hands, but if reproducing the sort of performance that saw him win a Fairyhouse bumper by 10 lengths, he should be ultra competitive, especially with Swan on his back.
Bypharbeanri can make it a hat-trick in the Munster Hurdle, and Tony Martin Martin and The Quads look set for the Qualified Riders Chase.
