Plenty of Irish among Ladbroke 22 Willie Mullins has left Clondaw Warrior in The Ladbroke at Ascot on Saturday. So progressive on the level this year, the seven-year-old ran with plenty of credit on his return to the winter game, finishing third in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham. Gordon Elliott could saddle Bayan and Shadow Catcher, with Tony Martin's Pyromaniac and Sea Beat from Arthur Moore's stable the other Irish acceptors. Garde La Victoire has been left with top weight following the five-day confirmations. The Philip Hobbs-trained Greatwood winner is at the head of the pile following the defection of Zamdy Man, who ran at Cheltenham last weekend. Hobbs also has Exeter regular Hello George in the valuable handicap hurdle, for which there are 22 horses remaining. Sign Of A Victory, trained by Nicky Henderson, has been earmarked for this race since winning the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Ascot over six weeks ago and is a leading ante-post fancy. The Seven Barrows handler has a second possible in Cool Macavity but he has taken out his other entries, including recent Sandown scorer Snake Eyes, while John Ferguson is double-handed with Ruacana and Pine Creek. Activial is also a major player for the Harry Fry operation.
