Vedette may miss out on Fly battle
Should the ground not ease, Murphy will probably avoid taking on last season’s Irish and Cheltenham Champion Hurdle winner and give his star mare an outing in the John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran on Thursday instead.
“I’m not sure yet if she runs on Sunday. We’ve not made a final decision,” the County Wexford trainer told At The Races.
“I suppose a lot will depend on the ground. It’s good ground at Leopardstown at the moment. We’ll want to get a bit of rain if we are going to take him on.
“We’ll see what the weather does during the week.
“She seems a better mare this year and she’s settling better.
“We’ll have to make a decision maybe in the morning. If she doesn’t go on Sunday I’d imagine we’ll take the engagement on Thursday.
“We want a good cut in the ground to be taking on Hurricane Fly.
“As for which race she goes for at Cheltenham, we’ll see how she gets on in her next race and make a decision then.
“There’s the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle but we’ve by no means ruled out the World Hurdle.”
Binocular will again have his Champion Hurdle prep race at Sandown on February 4 – rather than in the BHP Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown this weekend.
“I’d say he’ll run at Sandown,” said Frank Berry, McManus’ racing manager. It has worked for us in the past so I think we’ll stick to it.
“We’ll get Sandown out of the way first before we start thinking about Cheltenham.
“He’s back in good form, though, we’ve been very pleased with him since Kempton.
“AP (Tony McCoy) said he wasn’t quite giving him the same feel but he won a Grade One nonetheless.”
Meanwhile, Paul Nolan is hoping for improvement from Noble Prince in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham after he suffered a surprise defeat at Fairyhouse.
The eight-year-old remains a leading fancy for the Festival despite the loss at the hands of Blazing Tempo in the Normans Grove Chase.
However, Nolan was disappointed with Sunday’s performance and will now concentrate on preparing last season’s Jewson Novices’ Chase winner for another tilt at the Festival in March.
“He’s 100%. We were disappointed, but hopefully ground-wise he’ll improve for Cheltenham and he has to improve on that run,” said the Co Wexford handler.
“We’ll get him ready for Cheltenham now.
“The same views about the ground at Fairyhouse were given about the mare that beat us. We’ve just got to hope he improves for Cheltenham.
“He likes a break between his races, but we’re not making excuses for Sunday’s defeat.”
Edward O’Grady’s Staying Article heads a field of 34 at the confirmation stage for the Boylesports.com Hurdle at Leopardstown on Saturday.
Willie Mullins is mob-handed with five entries – though Blazing Tempo is highly unlikely to take her chance in the race following her victory in the Normans Grove Chase at Fairyhouse on Sunday.
Leading fancies include the ante-post favourite Scottish Boogie, trained by Charles Byrnes, Gordon Elliott’s Plan A, Adrian Murray’s Cass Bligh and the Jessica Harrington-trained Citizenship.
Robert Tyner reports Askthemaster ready to return to the fray after winning a 12-runner handicap hurdle over two and a quarter miles at the Dublin track on St Stephen’s Day.
That was his first start since he finished down the field over two and a half miles at the Galway Festival in July.
“He’s in good order. He did a grand job the last day. It was his first run back and it will have put him spot-on for Saturday,” said the County Cork trainer.
Tom George has withdrawn Olofi, as expected, leaving Pat Murphy’s Temlett as the only remaining British entry.
