Al Eile takes Haydock chance
“We’ve got a big concern about the ground but we had nowhere else to go really,” said Queally. “We’re a little bit in the dark but he’s got to run somewhere.
“Timmy Murphy knows the horse and if he’s not going in the ground he’s not going to flog the guts out of him. He’s there to win but tomorrow is not his long-term objective. It would be hard to be optimistic.”
Al Eile will come up against leading Smurfit Champion Hurdle candidate Arcalis.
Howard Johnson’s grey is the 7-2 joint-favourite with Ladbrokes for the Festival race following his romp in the Pertemps ‘Fighting Fifth’ Hurdle at Newcastle in November.
And the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner faces six rivals this afternoon despite Johnson indicating that his charge wouldn’t run on the prevailing heavy ground.
Also in opposition are Triumph Hurdle runner-up Faasel and Castleford Chase winner Mister McGoldrick, and trainer Sue Smith believes her nine-year-old can take the switch back to hurdles in his stride.
“He’s such a versatile sort that switching between hurdles and fences doesn’t really bother him,” said Smith.
“The ground is not as much of a negative for us as it will be for some of the others in the race and he ran such a good race last year (second to Inglis Drever) that we thought we may as well take our chance.”
