6.15 2m. 6f. 168yds. 18 Declared. Guinness H'cap H'dle (Grade B) of €80,000.00 4-y-o plus
1st - €48,000.00 2nd - €16,000.00 3rd - €8,000.00 4th - €4,000.00 5th - €2,400.00 6th - €1,600.00
FormscanBy Donal Murphy - Willie Mullins dominates here, with seven of the twenty-strong field trained by master of Closutton. Paul Townend has opted to partner Canardier and it's not difficult to see why. The eight-year-old gelding fell at the last in the Coral Cup when likely to be at least placed. That was his first start for Mullins and there should be plenty more to come from the son of Crillon. Top-weight Stratum has a course win to his name and is another leading hope for the champion trainer, along with Sayo and Diamond Hill. The Jam Man, who was ninth in the Stayers' Hurdle at Cheltenham, has been disappointing on the level since, but it'll be interesting to see how he fares now back over hurdles. Pilbara and Abraham are others of definite interest, but for a selection I'll side with MINISTERFORSPORT. A winner of a valuable handicap hurdle at Cork in April of 2018, the nine-year-old has been campaigned over fences in recent times. He was beaten by just a short head in a Grade 3 at Naas on his penultimate start and with Hugh Morgan taking a valuable seven pounds off his back here, a bold bid looks likely. In truth, very few can be ruled out in this ultra-competitive race.
An extended handicap hurdle for four years old and upwards that have run at least three times in hurdle races up to and including 19th July 2020Weights - Top weight in the original handicap and after the time of declaration shall not be less than 11st 10lbs and the minimum weight is 9st 12lbsPenalties - Winner of a hurdle race or hurdle races after calculation of the handicap shall carry any penalty or penalties which may be allotted by the Handicapper.