Sunday's Grade 2's at Thurles: 'That piece of form alone is enough to be brimming with confidence' Ireland’s sole meeting on Sunday is hosted by Thurles with an intriguing seven-race card to enjoy. The ground is currently described as yielding, good to yielding in places on the hurdles course and the action should be very entertaining. Our two feature races are the Carey Glass Irish EBF Mares Novice Chase and the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase, both of which are Grade 2s. We’ve got you covered as our expert has gone through both races with a fine-tooth comb and picked out their two strongest fancies. Carey Glass Irish EBF Mares Novice Chase - Jade De Grugy Whilst you’re never going to get a good price for JADE DE GRUGY, sometimes it’s just not worth taking the favourite on. There’s €50,000 on offer for this race and it’ll be a surprise if the Willie Mullins-trained mare fails to take home first prize. The daughter of Doctor Dino is rated 150 over hurdles and that leaves her five rivals with a significant amount to find. In fact, Jade De Grugy can perform significantly below her best here and still win on the bridle, as the others can’t match the level of form she offers. She won the Punchestown Mares Champion Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival back in May, beating stablemate Gala Marceau and Gordon Elliott’s star mare Brighterdaysahead. That piece of form alone is enough to be brimming with confidence. Second in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham before that, she found only Lossiemouth too good that day and there’s absolutely no shame in that. The seven-year-old is probably the second-best mare in training (over hurdles) and should therefore be winning this race. She finished second behind The Big Westerner at Limerick over Christmas and that form looks rock-solid. The slightly shorter trip will probably suit and this is an excellent opportunity to get off the mark over fences. Henry de Bromhead’s Tareze is the next highest rated runner and her efforts over fences this season have been solid enough but she’s likely to struggle against Mullins’ mare. Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase - Gentleman De Mee This race is the Willie Mullins show as he trains four of the five runner. It would be quite the surprise if Jack Foley’s Monbeg Park managed to get the better of the Mullins battalion. Appreciate It heads the market but he’s worth taking on and GENTLEMAN DE MEE could be the one. Owned by JP McManus, he roared back to form to win the Topham Chase over the Grand National fences in the spring. He received quite the ride from Mark Walsh as his jumping was inconsistent throughout but he still managed to get the job done by just shy of a length. That form is amongst the best on offer and winning a lesser graded contest such as this shouldn’t be beyond the 10-year-old. Fourth behind Gaelic Warrior in the Oaksey Chase after that, plenty went wrong that day and he was perhaps a little unlucky not to finish closer. Whilst it’s noted that his two efforts so far this season have been a little disappointing, the return to slightly quicker ground will definitely be in his favour. Gentleman De Mee finished second in the Champion Chase two years ago and definitely has it in him to run a big race in this sort of company.
