Elliott holds strong hand in Thurles feature Following a further 16mm of rain since declarations on Tuesday, the ground at Thurles is now soft to heavy for today's seven-race card. It's set to be mainly dry and there is fresh ground available on the hurdle track. Elliott eyes feature race success Racing starts at 1.32 and the BOYLE Sports Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle is the feature event at 3.17. Four are due to line up in the Grade 3 over just short of 2m5f and Gordon Elliott looks to have a strong hand with wide-margin course and distance winner Timeless Treaty, the mount of Jack Kennedy, set to go off favourite. Elliott will also be represented by Naas maiden winner Open Secret who was fourth at Cheltenham last month. “Both of them are in good form," said the Cullentra handler. “Timeless Treaty won well there the last day and Open Secret ran well in a Grade 2 at Cheltenham last time.” Mullins favorite for Listed Mares' Chase The Willie Mullins-trained Karia Des Blaises is morning favourite at round 13/8 for the Colreevy Mares Novice Chase, with six runners set to face the starter for this Listed contest at 2.07. Looking ahead to the weekend, it's heavy for Saturday's meeting at Fairyhouse following 11mm of rain since entries. A further 6-9mm (approx) of rain is possible prior to racing, according to Met Éireann, and there are 6 yards of fresh ground on the hurdle track. The ground for Sunday's fixture at Naas has improved slightly and is now described as soft to heavy after 2.5mm of rain since entries. The outlook remains unsettled with the prospect of up to 5mm (approx) of rain prior to racing. Tomorrow's fixture at Clonmel is subject to a 10am inspection this morning, with parts of the track having been found to be unfit for racing yesterday. Additional reporting by Gary Carson
