Anak looks poised to get off mark
A son of the mighty Sinndar, he is an ordinary horse, but stays well and is capable of getting through a contest such as this.
Anak ran in another 14 furlongs race at Killarney just six days ago and went off a strong favourite.
He tried to make all and they were tactics which looked like succeeding for most of the journey.
In the end, however, he had no answer to the sustained challenge of Aidan O’Brien’s Moon Indigo, going under by three and a half lengths.
High-class Grade 1 winning hurdler, Won In The Dark, is the biggest danger. His last outing on the flat saw him finish a creditable fifth behind Solwhit in the Leopardstown November Handicap.
Wikaala, runner-up behind Honour The World in a novice hurdle at Bellewstown, is arguably the form horse in the J J Burke Subaru Maiden Hurdle.
Preference, though, is for Willie Mullins’ Truxton King, who is actually making his debut over jumps and has been absent for 277 days.
His fitness will hardly be a worry, however, and it will be a surprise should the selection not have done plenty of schooling.
At the back-end of the last flat season, Truxton King came right with a vengeance when landing handicaps at Dundalk and Gowran Park.
Mullins also has possibilities with Lake An Lay, fifth behind the impressive Raise Your Heart at Leopardstown last week, in the Yolanda O’Gorman Memorial Handicap.
