Desoto in good form ahead of Coral Hurdle Gordon Elliott admits he is in the dark as to whether Desoto County has the requisite class to win a race such as the Coral.ie Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday. Winner of his first and only run for Elliott since joining from Donald McCain in England, the seven-year-old has a 10lb rise to overcome. He won with something in hand at Thurles but this represents a marked step up in class, which Elliott is unsure whether he is up to. "He's in good form, he's fit and he's well," said the County Meath handler. "Whether he's good enough to win a race like this I couldn't be 100 per cent sure, but he's in very good form and I couldn't be happier with him. "He's got a nice weight and Jack Kennedy takes 5lb off, which will be a massive help. "I think he's improved, definitely, but whether he's good enough time will tell." Kalkir had been ante-post favourite for a while but there was a surprise on Friday morning when Ruby Walsh instead chose to ride stablemate Buiseness Sivola, not seen since finishing fifth in a Grade One in France 224 days ago. French rider Jacques Ricou is on Kalkir. Trainer Willie Mullins also runs top weight Ivan Grozny (Danny Mullins) and Bamako Moriviere (David Mullins). "Ivan Grozny is not the biggest horse in the world, he's more a flat-hurdle type," said the County Carlow handler. "Whether he could carry that type of weight in this sort of competition on what is his first start of the season, it would look a hard task, but he is a good horse. "Buiseness Sivola and Kalkir missed the race at Limerick when it was cancelled over Christmas. "Both horses showed great form last season but probably haven't reached the top of the game yet so I think there is improvement there and they could be well handicapped. "Bamako Moriviere ran well at Christmas but I'm not sure that he stayed the trip at Limerick. He looks like a horse who could improve. "The timing of the race is perfect. It means you can run at Christmas and then come here, whereas before it was too soon after Christmas." Owner JP McManus has nine of the 25 runners, with Barry Geraghty choosing to get down to 10st 4lb to ride Shay Barry's After Rain. Geraghty told his At The Races blog: "After Rain has been raised by just 2lb, and I hope that he can progress now off his mark of 125. "He is only six and he has run just five times over hurdles and, while he handled soft to heavy ground at Fairyhouse the last day, the better the ground on Sunday, the better his chance will be." Mark Walsh rides De Name Escapes Me with Noel Meade deciding to claim 7lb off stablemate Waxies Dargle with Jonathan Moore. The Castletown trainer said: "Waxies Dargle is coming off a very bad run at Ascot - I can't say why, as we fancied him well going over as we thought the ground would suit. "Nothing went the way we thought it would and he was very disappointing."
