Sharjah on course for Matheson four-timer bid Sharjah is on course for his four-timer bid in the Grade 1 Matheson Hurdle at the Leopardstown Christmas festival with his jockey Patrick Mullins excited by the prospect of the race. The Willie Mullins trained eight year old is a five-time Grade 1 winner and having won Punchestown's Morgiana Hurdle on his last start in November, he returns to his favoured Leopardstown next Wednesday. Jockey Patrick Mullins reports “it is quite dry at Leopardstown, the drainage works very well and there is a long straight with a long even home bend which gives him something to aim at. I think really it is the ground that really suits him. “It's funny, the track they use in February is much wider on the track and gets watered during the summer and he doesn't seem to operate on that at all. But the inside, he just seems to hop off it. Regarding Cheltenham Champion Hurdle prospects, he added “the mare (Honeysuckle) is the one to beat and is very hard to beat but horses aren't machines and if anything happened on the day, he might get her. But she doesn't go at Christmas and that makes life a lot easier for Sharjah.”
