Conditions are sure to be testing today at Thurles, where the feature contest is the £25,000 Esat Kinloch Brae Chase. Manhatten Castle will bid to repeat his success in this Grade Two contest last year, but in terms of the entire meeting, the inform Willie Mullins looks the man to follow.

The Co Carlow trainer could have as many as seven horses travelling to the Cheltenham festival, headed, of course, by Florida Pearl. However, Mullins still has hopes of getting the classy Balla Sola there for the Triumph Hurdle and a vital first step to that goal will be taken in the opener.

How the compact chestnut, a two-year-old winner at Listowel and a horse who attained a flat handicap mark of 99, will react to the hurly-burly of jumping in a race is impossible to definitely say. But what we can say is that Balla Sola is a tough individual who acts on very soft ground and also has an impressive turn of foot at the end of his races.

The fact that Mullins holds out Triumph Hurdle hopes for him says a lot, and although Bamford Castle has winning experience and Dual Star is close to him on flat ratings, any Triumph Hurdle hopes will be quenched if Balla Sola doesn't do well today.

Mullins also hopes to have a representative in the festival bumper, which he has already won three times, and if U Jump I Jump wins the last impressively today he could well be on the plane, too, next month. This one started favourite on his debut at Leopardstown but went down to Forget Us Not. The Clones Cyclone, third in that race, could again be the main threat.

Mullins should also be on the mark with Palette, a chase scorer at Cork and Clonmel, in the mares' novice chase but it's difficult to be as dogmatic in the feature.

The Naas specialist, Opera Hat, comes out well ahead in the ratings, but although runner-up to Klairon Davis last time at Fairyhouse, she does look a much better animal when racing left-handed. On the form of last year's renewal, Beakstown is another who comes right into it, while the novice Micko's Dream will love the ground.

All told, then, slight preference is for Manhatten Castle, who ran a decent race in the re-scheduled Victor Chandler at Kempton but who is usually a much more potent weapon when racing at home.

Dixon Varner is hard to get away from in the hunter chase, and the Naas winner Saxophone, an unlucky faller at Leopardstown last time, gets the nod in the novice hurdle.

Gold Cup day at Cheltenham on Thursday, March 18th, is a sell-out in all three enclosures, with the Festival meeting still five weeks away.

Badges and tickets are still available for the first two days of the fixture, but rise in price at the end of this month.