Solwhit set for Punchestown, Fly out Solwhit is set to make his seasonal debut in the Grade 1 Dobbins and Madigans Hurdle at Punchestown on Sunday. The Charles Byrnes trained gelding was an impressive winner of the event last year before going on to land the Irish Champion Hurdle. He proved disappointing at Cheltenham subsequently only to bounce back to form when just going under to Hurricane Fly in a thriller at the Punchestown festival. “He is in good form and the ground will suit him,” said trainer Charles Byrnes. “It is his first run back and he may not be as forward as he was this time last year. He did very well over the summer and is carrying more condition”. A rematch between himself and Hurricane Fly, who was third in this race last year, looks unlikely though with trainer Willie Mullins all but ruling out his star. “We are just not happy with him at the moment and the delay will unfortunately mean we will have to miss the Dobbins and Madigans Hurdle this weekend,” said Mullins However, the absence of Hurricane Fly could greatly influence the decision of Voler La Vedette’s trainer Colm Murphy who said “There is every chance that she will run and obviously the fact that Hurrciane Fly doesn’t start would influence that decision. We will probably leave her in at the forfeit stage and see how she goes during the week”. Sublimity is another horse set to make his seasonal reappearance having been off the track since last January when he finished third behind Solwhit in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown. Trainer Robbie Hennessy said “This will be his first run back since injury last spring. He ran a cracker at Leopardstown on soft to heavy ground and he has good form on that going so we are going to take our chance”. A notable absence from the race will be the John ‘Shark’ Hanlon trained Luska Lad, who finished down the field in his most recent run last Friday . “Following his run at Down Royal we knew there was something a miss. When we got him home we did a scope and the results were not satisfactory. "Unfortunately he will miss the Punchestown race as we will give him a few days off this week,” said Hanlon. There will be two giant screens on site at Punchestown this weekend with full coverage of the action from The Open Meeting at Cheltenham. The Junior Jockey Fun Club will be available for the duration of the Winter Festival with free activities for children including pony rides, face painting, bouncy castles and creative corner. In addition, there will be a Shopping Fair taking place on the ground floor of the main grandstand. The two day Winter Festival at Punchestown gets underway at 12.05 on Saturday when the first of an eight race card goes to post. Sunday’s card gets underway at 12.35. Admission is €15 and €18 respectively with students and Senior Citizens at €10.
