Hurricane Fly remains firmly on course to line up at Leopardstown on Sunday in the Grade 1 BHP Insurance Irish Champion Hurdle which features as part of a thrilling weekend’s racing at Leopardstown.
The Montjeu gelding came through a satisfactory workout at Leopardstown a couple of weeks ago and his preparations since have gone well and his trainer Willie Mullins said: “He is a hell of a horse and probably only once or twice in your lifetime might you come across a horse with that sort of ability.” He continued: - “He is hard to train as he is so tough on himself and we can’t let him do what he wants to do. I just want to keep him right and if he gets beaten, he gets beaten. Hopefully he will improve for the run. He is a horse that has a habit of getting himself into trouble at home, but he seems to be right now.”
His main market rival among the six horses left in after today’s final forfeit stage is Unaccompanied. She accounted for her elders when she captured last month’s Grade 1 Istabraq Festival Hurdle. Her trainer Dermot Weld has great respect for Hurricane Fly and stated: “She will be trained for the day and I’ll be satisfied if she gets placed. I do think that it is very ambitious to think that she can beat Hurricane Fly, but she is a good, improving mare and I think the best is yet to come from her.” He continued: “Hurricane Fly is an outstanding horse and he will be extremely hard to beat, but I am very hopeful of winning the race.
Robbie Power is hopeful of a big run from dual Grade 1 winner Oscars Well and he said: “I am really looking forward to it and he has come on a lot since he ran at Christmas. I couldn’t be happier with him and I am hopeful that he’ll run a big race. Hopefully there will be something in the race that will give him a lead for a bit longer on Sunday - he ended up having to do a lot of the donkey work at Christmas.” He concluded: “It is a hell of a race. The first three home at Christmas look as if they’ll take each other on again and Hurricane Fly will be there as well - it will be a proper race.”
The Peter Casey trained Flemenstar heads to Leopardstown on Sunday for the Grade 1 Frank Ward Solicitors Arkle Novice Chase which has eight horses remaining after today’s final forfeit stage.
The seven year old has won two of this three starts over fences and was impressive when he accounted for Lambro at Naas earlier this month and Francis Casey assistant to his father Peter said: “He seems to be in great form and the plan is to run, but I would be a bit concerned about the ground as he needs a good dig in it. I see there is rain forecast for Wednesday, so we’d be hoping that they get a good drop up there. He was good the last day at Naas and he has come out of that race in great form.”
Regarding future plans Casey added: “He’ll be staying at home. There are plenty of good races over here and having spoken to his owner, we decided not to make an entry for him at Cheltenham.”
Blackstairmountain and Notus De La Tour, who finished first and second in the Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, are likely to be the two market principals in Sunday’s race. Blackstairmountain will be bidding to give trainer Willie Mullins a fourth success in the race since 2002 while Notus De La Tour would be the first English trained winner of this Grade 1 event since Mulligan triumphed under Adrian Maguire in 1997.
A total of 34 horses remain in the Boylesports.com Hurdle with Edward O’Grady’s Staying Article heading the weights and a fiercely competitive race is in prospect. The likely favourite is the Charles Byrnes trained Scottish Boogie who finished third at Leopardstown over Christmas while other strong fancies are the likes of Plan A, Make A Track, recent course winner Cass Bligh and Jessica Harrington’s Citizenship.
Nicola McGeady, Boylesports PR Spokesperson commented: “The Boylesports.com Hurdle is an extremely competitive event with plenty of horses attracting support. Overall it is a brisk betting heat. Scottish Boogie was all the rage early doors but Beau Michael has been the best backed horse in recent days. Cothrom Na Feinne, trained by Des McDonogh and owned by Mrs J.S. Bolger, and the consistent Peak Raider are also catching the punters’ eye.”
Also on Saturday, Hidden Cyclone is on course to line up in Grade 2 the Boylesports.com Bet On Your Mobile Novice Chase. The Stowaway gelding made a winning start to his chasing career last month and his trainer Shark Hanlon said: “I couldn’t be happier with him and he has come on a lot for his first run. The plan is to run on Saturday and he has never been in better form. He’ll do his final bit of strong work tomorrow and assuming that goes okay; he’ll head to Leopardstown.”
