Horse In Profile: Lovely Hurling

The superbly-named Lovely Hurling could be one to represent trainer Colm Murphy and take on some big guns at next week's Punchestown Festival, with the lightly raced gelding one to keep a close eye on.

He's owned by JP McManus and looks to be improving with each start, notably when winning a strong maiden hurdle at Naas in February. A possible step up into Grade 1 company is on the cards for the Punchestown Festival.

Murphy back on track

A successful amateur rider, Murphy also spent time working at Ballydoyle dealing with entries, declarations and other administration work as he got an up close and personal look at Aidan O'Brien.

He took out his own license to train in 2000 and Murphy didn't have to wait long to come across a horse of a lifetime in the shape of Brave Inca, who would land both the Supreme Novices' Hurdle (2004) and the Champion Hurdle (2006) at Cheltenham, as well as two Irish Champion Hurdles and a Punchestown Champion Hurdle.

Murphy soon had another stable star in Big Zeb, who recorded six Grade 1 wins including the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2010.

In September 2016, Murphy took the racing world by surprise when announcing his intention to retire from the training ranks.

He spent time working with the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board but, come 2019, made the headlines again when deciding to renew his training licence.

He now has a small but select team of horses at his base in Gorey in his native Co Wexford and is attempting to find another big name.

Promising signs for Lovely Hurling

A son of Walk In The Park, Lovely Hurling has winners in his excellent pedigree. He's a half-brother to 2m3f hurdle winner Cadatharla and his dam was a 2m hurdle winner, closely related to 2m hurdle winners Pleased As Punch and Light Of My Life out of half-sister to 2m Group 2 winner Akbar on the Flat.

He was bred by the McManus operation and duly sent to Murphy, who has long been a beneficiary of one of racing's true great benefactors.

He was as big as 80/1 on his racecourse bow at Fairyhouse (2m3½f) in a heavy-ground maiden in March 2024 and ran a fair race in midfield.

By May of that year, the signs were better and he started 6/5 market leader for a bumper at Wexford over two-and-a-half-miles which he won, despite showing plenty of signs of greenness under John Gleeson.

Hurdles win a sign of underlying talent

It was 255 days before we would see Lovely Hurling again. This time, he was joint-favourite for a 2m2½f maiden hurdle at Naas in February this year.

Mark Walsh rode for the first time and had little more than a steering job on his hands as Lovely Hurling cruised to victory in the manner of a good horse.

The second and third won their next starts, while as many as five other subsequent winners have emerged from that race.

Lovely Hurling has a brace of options at Punchestown next week in Grade 1 company, with both the KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle (2m½f) and the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle (2m4½f) open to him.

It's going to be a sharp rise in class if Murphy elects to tackle one of those Grade 1 events, but he evidently thinks plenty of this six-year-old and he could outrun big odds at Punchestown, so he looks like one to follow for now.