Champion Big Guns In Great Heart

Irish-trained horses have plundered the last four renewals of the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle and this year´s team from the Emerald Isle are limbering up nicely ahead of the March 11 feature.

Last year´s hero Sublimity, rising star Sizing Europe and Noel Meade´s mercurial Harchibald fill three of the first four spots in the market.

And the latter pair both pleased their handlers in workouts with D-day now only a fortnight away.

Of Sizing Europe, a general 2-1 chance after blowing the opposition away in the AIG Europe Champion, trainer Henry De Bromhead said: "He´s in great form, I´m really pleased with him.

"He worked and he worked well, so I´m really happy at the moment.

"It´s great to be involved with the favourite for the Champion Hurdle, we are just waiting for the race now at this stage.

"But we are very happy with him so hopefully he will stay that way between now and then."

Harchibald looked back to his best when landing the Fighting Fifth earlier in the season and also lit up the gallops as Meade prepares him for a prep run on the all-weather at Dundalk on Friday.

"We´re happy with him at the moment. He worked for Friday and he did it very easily," said the County Meath trainer.

"He did his stuff very well and he was quite impressive actually. He didn´t work with anything of his calibre but he did it very well and I´m pretty happy with him, everything´s gone well.

"I don´t expect him to win on Friday at Dundalk. It´s a mile-and-a-half conditions race and there´s horses rated 102 and a Group Three winner there ? it´s a good race."

Harchibald enjoyed a spin at the same track before winning the Fighting Fifth and Meade is hoping Friday´s run will put him spot-on for Cheltenham.

"It worked well before. He came off the all-weather feeling well and that´s something that´s important for any horse going to Cheltenham ? to feel well in themselves," he told At The Races.

"When he ran at Newcastle he´d run at Dundalk beforehand and came back bouncing around. I´m hoping it will work again."

(C) PA Sport