Bowes hoping that Solerina can maintain form for Bewley’s test
The seven-year-old mare has run five times in the past eight weeks, winning on four occasions and finishing second in the other.
She captured the scalp of Smurfit Champion Hurdle winner Hardy Eustace for her latest success at Navan earlier this month and Bowe fears Dessie Hughes’s runner this time.
“Hardy Eustace will probably improve a lot whereas the mare might not. She’s been on the go since October having had five races. It’s a bit tricky keeping them at that level,” said Bowe, assistant to his trainer father, James.
“The other horses are just coming in now and they’ll be peaking towards Cheltenham whereas with the mare we go for everything we can at home.
“The likes of Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace will want a stamina test and she’ll probably pop out in front as usual.
“Solerina has not done much since Navan. She’s only been hacking about the farm.
“She’s her usual laid back self and appears to be in fine fettle but you never know until you get them on the track. She’s not let us down this season so far.”
Hughes believes that Hardy Eustace has a “good chance of turning Solerina over” in the Grade One contest.
He was beaten two and a half lengths by the Bowe family’s mare over two and a half miles at Navan, but that was his first race for almost eight months.
“He’s in good order. It was a good run at Navan to just put him right for tomorrow,” said the Curragh trainer.
“It looks like Solerina may be the hardest to beat but we have a good chance to turn her over this time.”
Bookmakers agree with Ladbrokes making Hardy Eustace the favourite narrowly at 15-8 with Solerina 2-1.
Hardy Eustace did not wear blinkers at Navan but has the headgear back on as he drops back to two miles.
“I’ve put the blinkers back on him because two miles is a bit sharp for him - he’s really a two-and-a-half-mile horse. The blinkers might sharpen him up a bit,” he added.
The six horses declared for the Grade One contest also include this year’s Letheby & Christopher Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner Brave Inca and Jessica Harrington’s Macs Joy, who was a close third to Harchibald at Punchestown last month.
:
: 15-8 Hardy Eustace, 2-1 Solerina, 5-1 Brave Inca, Macs Joy, 12-1 Al Eile, 14-1 Georges Girl.
: 2-1 Hardy Eustace, 5-2 Solerina, 4-1 Macs Joy, 5-1 Brave Inca, 8-1 Al Eile, 16-1 Georges Girl.
