Home By The Lee and Banbridge carrying O'Brien's hopes

Joseph O’Brien is readying a Cheltenham Festival team led by key contenders Home By The Lee and Banbridge.

The dual Derby-winning jockey has had three previous winners at Cheltenham — Band Of Outlaws in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (2019), Early Doors in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (2019) and Banbridge in the same race in 2022.

However, the young trainer was also largely credited with guiding Ivanovich Gorbatov to his win in the Triumph Hurdle in 2016 before getting his licence.

Banbridge features highly in this year’s list of entries, with the seven-year-old looking a likely starter for the Turners Novices’ Chase over two and a half miles as opposed to the two-mile Arkle.

O’Brien said: “It looks as though he’ll go up in trip for the novice chase. He ran very well at Leopardstown (second in the Irish Arkle), he finished strongly and really looked as though he was crying out for a bit further.”

Of the suggestion that course form is particularly valuable at Cheltenham, he added: “Absolutely. He’s a course winner over hurdles and fences and we know he can perform there which is a big help.”

Another exciting prospect is long-distance hurdler Home By The Lee, a two-time winner this season when landing both the Lismullen Hurdle and the Jack de Bromhead Christmas Hurdle.

The Stayers’ Hurdle now awaits the gelding, who was sixth in the race last year and has shown significant improvement since.

“Home By The Lee has a big chance in the Stayers’ Hurdle,” said O’Brien.

“Obviously it’s a very competitive race now with a couple of horses springing into the market that were potentially going elsewhere up until recent weeks. He’s done nothing wrong all season.

“Stamina is really his forte and he’s shown that this season. He ran quite well in the race last year, he wasn’t beaten far and obviously looks an improved horse this year.

“You always hope for more, but I suppose when he won at Navan that was a surprise and it looks as though he’s taken a step forward and kind of proved that when he came back at Christmas time.

“It’s an open race, it’s not as though you’re looking at yourself against one or two, probably half a dozen are going to go to the race as things stand thinking ‘we can win this’.

“There are some of the old pretenders that have been there and done that, then there’s the younger brigade that are coming through.

“Although we’re not a young horse, we’re in the less exposed category. We go there with a real live chance and that’s what it’s about.”

Fakir D’oudairies runs in the Ascot Chase on Saturday, after which he may take his place in the Ryanair after finishing second in the same contest in 2021.

“We’ll see how Ascot goes, it looks a really hot race this year,” O’Brien said.

“From there we’ll make a plan for Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown.”

Former Derby favourite High Definition is another interesting O’Brien runner for the big meeting, a fixture the trainer likens to the racing equivalent of the Olympics.

He said: “It’s the Olympics and all the different phrases you want to describe what Cheltenham is for National Hunt racing.

“It’s the most important week of the year and it’s important that we’re not only there but we perform well there.

“We’re excited to go there with hopefully some nice prospects.”

When asked what could constitute a good week for the yard, O’Brien added: “A winner. We’ll take one and go and be happy with a winner.”