Fly set to wing home
The six-year-old, on the easy-list for a while with a suspensory ligament problem, hasn’t been seen since finishing a disappointing third behind Solwhit in the Morgiana Hurdle here back in November.
But he has a history of going well fresh and bolted in at this meeting last year, having been off since Christmas.
It is hard enough to get a handle on Solwhit at this stage. He was a poor sixth behind Binocular in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, after heading there on the back of an interrupted preparation.
His travels in the market will obviously be well worth noting, but the rapidly drying surface is hardly a plus.
Dunguib, only third to Menorah at Cheltenhham, is now thrown in at the deep end and his jumping continues to give cause for concern.
Medermit and Punjabi ran no sort of races in the Champion Hurdle, while smart mare, Voler La Vedette, simply doesn’t look good enough.
If Nick Williams’ Reve de Sivola strips at his best then he will be hard to beat in the Cathal Ryan Memorial Champion Novice Hurdle.
The progressive five-year-old was beaten a length and a half into second by Peddlers Cross in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and a repeat of that will surely be good enough.
Willie Mullins’ Arvika Ligeonniere gets the nap in the Star Best For Racing Coverage Novice Hurdle. It’s a contest where the emphasis is more on quantity than quality and this classy sort, who can be very keen, will almost certainly get the strongly-run contest which is required.
