Look back a little further to the December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting in 2004 and you will see that the same three horses were involved, Macs Joy emerging on top, followed home by Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca. That was the race that set the context for last year’s AIG, and it showed Macs Joy in the ascendant. This season, as his trainer Jessica Harrington fell victim to a sustained lean spell of the sort that strikes every stable from time to time, Macs Joy has struggled to find his best form. Last of five when Brave Inca started the campaign with a victory in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown, and only one place better when Brave Inca beat Harchibald in the December Festival Hurdle after Christmas, he has ground to make up at this stage.
After an outstanding campaign as a novice hurdler two seasons ago, highlighted by his victory over the current Gold Cup hopeful War Of Attrition in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Brave Inca’s first season in the senior ranks last winter was basically a story of gallant defeats. It was not until he beat Harchibald and Macs Joy in the Emo Oil Champion Hurdle at Punchestown that he got his head in front for the first time. That was also the first time that he was ridden by Tony McCoy and the partnership has remained intact. Brave Inca has always been a tough, rugged competitor, the type of horse on whom McCoy excels, an ideal vehicle for a rider whose hallmark is an irresistible will to win.
The pair have suffered only one reverse in their four-race association, in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle over two and a half miles at Fairyhouse at the beginning of December, when Brave Inca failed to jump with his customary fluency and the finish was fought out by Solerina and Golden Cross. Best known for a 66-1 victory in the December Festival Hurdle back in 2003, Golden Cross has returned in grand shape after a spell on the sidelines, winning his only two races on the Flat last season as a prelude to his excellent Fairyhouse effort when he went so close to giving a Grade 1 success over jumps to Johnny Murtagh, one of Europe’s finest Flat jockeys.
Murtagh gets another shot at the dream today, but in all likelihood the shorter trip will not be as suitable for Golden Cross.
In the light of the history, status and prize-fund of today’s race it would be unjust to suggest that it is a dress-rehearsal for the Champion Hurdle in March, but it is inevitable nonetheless that any serious overview of the contest is shaped by the recognition that it provides a natural springboard to the Cheltenham showpiece. This is particularly true in regard to Hardy Eustace, the reigning title-holder who stands on the brink of joining the illustrious pantheon of horses who have won the Champion Hurdle three years in succession.
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The timing of preparation is absolutely crucial and, just as last season, Dessie Hughes will have an absolute priority to coax Hardy Eustace to the peak of form by the middle of March. He eased his way back into action at Punchestown last month. It looked a formality on paper, and the reality was no different. Today he steps back into the big league. He is such a formidable competitor that it will be a surprise if he is far from the heart of the action, but the momentum of the season so far is with Brave Inca and his trainer Colm Murphy.
The Baileys Arkle Cup looks at least as fascinating as the big hurdle, with three of the brightest talents on the novice chasing scene in action.
The former French-trained Nickname has made a spectacular impression in winning his two races over fences so far but faces strong opposition from Justified, winner of his three completed starts over fences, and Missed That, last season’s Cheltenham bumper winner who has catapulted himself back to the fore after an inept beginning to his chasing career at Thurles.
Justified, who unseated his rider at the first in the race won by Missed That at the venue after Christmas, had a new jockey in the shape of McCoy when he went to Newbury on his latest start. Though Justified was not entirely convincing, allowance should be made for the fact that he did not travel well. He was a talented novice hurdler last season and looked a natural chaser when winning his first two races this season at Punchestown.
Nickname has adapted brilliantly to chasing since joining Martin Brassil and has twice jumped magnificently under Conor O’Dwyer. There is a legitimate concern that the combined effects of today’s shorter trip and better ground will not be quite as much to his liking, but if he can exhibit the same blend of bold jumping and relentess galloping style as before it will take a special performance to lower his colours.
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Punters may get an early Cheltenham pointer when Bobs Pride appears in the Frank Conroy Maiden Hurdle. Dermot Weld won the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes at the venue with this son of Marju in the early part of the last Flat season, and he is already been tipped as a likely Triumph Hurdle candidate. He gets a hefty chunk of weight from his elders and is fancied to emulate the Ballysax runner-up Mister Hight by making a winning start over hurdles.
His rider Barry Geraghty may also be on the mark with In The High Grass in the handicap hurdle. Nicanor is weighted to overturn previous Navan form with former bumper star Travino in the PJ Walls Golden Cygnet Hurdle, while Shanghide, runner-up to Brave Inca’s stablemate Clew Bay Cove over hurdles on his debut, has a solid chance in the bumper.