Hurricane Fly jumps the last just ahead of Jezki© Photo Healy Racing
The stats say it all – this was Hurricane Fly #8217;s third Morgiana Hurdle win in-a-row, his 20th Grade One success and 21st career success from 26 races. Incredible stuff.
Punters weren’t interested in him today on this his fifth clash with Jezki The latter had beaten Hurricane Fly in the Champion Hurdle and was seen very much as the coming force in the hurdle ranks particularly as Jezki is a six-year-old compared to the 10-year-old Hurricane Fly.
The score coming here was 2-2 between the pair, but Hurricane Fly showed he still has plenty in his locker with this win.
Colin Bowe’s Little King Robin set out to make all and raced well clear. The lead was whittled right down by Jezki on the home bend. Mark Walsh was on Jezki for the first time as AP McCoy was injured and Barry Geraghty was riding in Cheltenham today. Hurricane Fly tracked Jezki in third.
Jezki soon moved past Little King Robin on the run to the last, but Hurricane Fly was going the better and grabbed a narrow lead jumping that obstacle.
Jezki made a mistake on the inside while Hurricane Fly, with Walsh in a full drive, powered home down the outside to beat his rival by two and a quarter lengths at 15/8. Punters had got stuck into Jezki backing him down to 8/13 favourite.
Willie Mullins said: “When we took the rug off him in the parade ring many onlookers felt he was a bit heavy. But his homework suggested he was stronger than last year.
“Ruby was tactically very good. The onus was on the champion to deal with the pace, and it was easier for us to ride our race. It won’t be always that easy through the season. Tactically we had the advantage today.
“He’ll go his normal route. You would have to say that run was better than his last two runs last season.”
Ruby Walsh said: “He’s a horse that always had plenty of guts and determination. Some people may have had their doubts about him, but Kauto Star was also written off a number of times. That’s racing, it’s all about opinions and he got a wonderful reception from the crowd here today.”
Jessica Harrington said of Jezki: “He was beaten by a better horse on the day. I won’t make any excuses. There was 15 lengths back to the third. He missed the last a bit but that was all.
“As long as he’s alright he’ll head to Leopardstown at Christmas.”
Boylesports kept Jezki at 5/1 for the Champion Hurdle and cut Hurricane Fly to 10/1 from 14/1. Meanwhile, Betfair pushed Jezki out to 6/1 from 5/1 and trimmed Hurricane Fly from 20/1 to 14/1.
Additional reporting by Alan Magee
