3.10 2m. 7f. 5 Declared. W.T. O'Grady Memorial EBF Novice H'dle of €13,500.00 5-y-o plus
1st - €8,100.00 2nd - €2,700.00 3rd - €1,350.00 4th - €675.00 5th - €405.00
FormscanBy Donal Murphy - Gordon Elliott has a strong hand here, with Davy Russell opting to partner Santonito. The Coastal Path gelding is likely to appreciate this step-up in trip and it'll come as no surprise if he manages to follow-up on his Clonmel success. CARDAMON HILL is the other Elliott representative and he is marginally preferred. He powered up the hill at Tramore on New Year's Day, beating Punchestown Festival winner Lisnagar Fortune, by nine lengths. That was a taking performance considering it was his first try over flights and it'll be interesting to see how far he can progress. Embassy Gardens beat Santonito by just a nose in a bumper at Leopardstown in 2021. Beaten on his first two tries over hurdles, he could very well come into his own over this longer trip. Meetingofthewaters and Kilbree Warrior were both beaten at Limerick over Christmas and they look up against it here.
A novice hurdle for five years old and upwards that are EBF eligible and have not won a Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 weight-for-age hurdle race and have not run under Rules of Racing as a two or three yr old and have not won a steeplechaseWeights - 11st Mares allowed 7lbsPenalties - Winner of a hurdle race 5lb extra Of two hurdle races 10lb extra