Lawlor has plenty to look forward to with Murat Peter Lawlor made the racing headlines in the summer when the two horses to sent to the Galway Festival both delivered and he has high hopes for one of them, Murat, over hurdles this season. Murat landed a bumper in Ballybrit and made his hurdling debut on testing ground at Naas earlier this month where he was beaten 17 lengths into second by the winner, Port Authority, who holds a Grade 2 entry in the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse on Sunday. Lawlor said: "The plan is to go to Cork on 7th December (maiden hurdle) if the ground is not too deep. "He handles it (deep ground) but, if you had a preference, you would go for better ground. "You'll see the real Murat at Leopardstown over Christmas. "Everything at Leopardstown depends on Cork, there's a couple of options. He needs that extra race going in at the deep end. If he had won his maiden there (in Naas), he would have been going in at the deep end. "He was looking at every hurdle there in Naas. He will come on from that and he will come on from Cork as well. "If he wins in Cork, I'd be throwing him in the graded races. I'll take a look at Leopardstown and I might even look at the Lawlor's (of Naas, Grade 1 in January). It all depends on Cork, he needs to get that under his belt." Eliot gelding Murat also won a bumper at Killarney in August last year.
