'A Horse Firmly On The Up' - Grade 3 bottlegreen Hurdle Tips Following the Grade 3 Mares Novice Hurdle, we have the Listed bottlegreen Hurdle over the same trip 2m1f and Gordon Elliott has won the last four renewals. A small field of five runners have been declared and our expert has picked out a pair to follow. Selection: The Yellow Clay Next Best: Bacchanalian The Yellow Clay can maintain Elliott’s fine record Gordon Elliott has won five of the last six renewals of this race with the likes of Pied Piper, Irish Point, and last year’s winner Brighterdaysahead, who went on to score at Grade 1 level in both the Morgiana and the Neville Hotels Hurdle. He looks to have another strong candidate this time in The Yellow Clay. The six-year-old proved to be one of the most promising novice hurdlers in Ireland last season. He made a winning start over hurdles at this meeting 12 months ago before stepping up to Grade 3 company at Navan, where he ran out an easy 10-length winner. He returned to Navan for the Grade 2 Novice Hurdle and looked in trouble after the last, but he showed real determination to get up on the line. That performance suggested he was crying out for a step up in trip, yet Elliott kept him at 2m4f for the Grade 1 Lawlor’s of Naas Novice Hurdle. It proved a shrewd move, as he travelled powerfully throughout and ran out an impressive eight-length winner against a quality field. He then headed to the Cheltenham Festival unbeaten to contest the Turners Novices’ Hurdle against Final Demand and The New Lion, running his best race to date when finishing second, beaten less than a length. Despite losing his unbeaten record, it was a massive performance that confirmed him as a horse firmly on the upgrade. Sent off 5/4 favourite for the Champion Novice Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival, he never jumped with his usual fluency and was already beaten when taking a heavy fall at the last. Over the summer, The Yellow Clay featured on many shortlists as a chaser to follow, but Elliott has opted to keep him over hurdles this season, with a long-term aim of a tilt at the Stayers’ Hurdle in March. Although this trip may be on the sharp side, he should have too much class for his four rivals and can make a winning start to the campaign before stepping back into Grade 1 company. The rest of the field Stablemate Casheldale Lad, who runs in the same colours, has won three of his six starts over hurdles but would need The Yellow Clay to underperform badly to land a blow here. The one who could give the favourite most to think about is the Declan Queally-trained Bacchanalian, who improved with every start last season. He got off the mark at the third attempt when scoring at Fairyhouse by more than four lengths, before taking a big step up in class and running with credit behind Hello Neighbour in the Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle. He dropped back in grade next time and beat the Willie Mullins-trained mare Murcia, who has since won the Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree. His final start came in a Grade 3 Juvenile Hurdle at Naas, where he recorded a career-best RPR of 136 with an emphatic 11-length victory. Bacchanalian looks an exciting prospect for the season ahead, though this test against The Yellow Clay could prove a step too far at this stage. Ladbrokes Betting Offer
