Tharawaat among 11 declared for Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle The Gordon Elliott-trained Tharawaat faces ten rivals as he bids to complete a hat-trick over hurdles in the Grade 1 Durkan New Homes Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown on Friday. The Alhaarth gelding followed up a wide margin Navan maiden win with an equally impressive 12 length defeat of Drunken Sailor in Grade 3 company at Fairyhouse, and will again be ridden by Davy Russell. 'He worked very well on Sunday morning so we are expecting a very big run. He is improving all the time and if I'm honest, I think he is even sharper now than he was at Fairyhouse. He seems to be getting better with every run,' said Elliott. 'When you look at him working at home you would say he'd go on better ground but he just seems very effective when it's testing. He jumps so well out of it and gallops other horses into the ground.' 'It's soft at Leopardstown at the moment so that will be in our favour as well. This race is the goal at the moment and if he wins, obviously we would be looking at races like the Triumph. We just want to get this race out of the way and we'll see where we are.' Drunken Sailor again renews rivalry along with Fairyhouse fifth Yield For No One, while dual hurdle winner Lethal Weapon is likely to prove the main threat to Tharawaat.
