In a game where so much can go wrong it's usually dangerous to label any horse a certainty, but Istabraq is surely that today. So much so that betting on what odds-on SP the champion hurdler is returned may be more interesting than the real thing.
A price of 1 to 8 was the favoured one yesterday, hardly surprising considering that just two take their chance against Istabraq.
Gazalani travels from Ollie Brady's Monaghan yard and Shantarini from Cavan for the AIB Festival Hurdle. Decent horses but hardly in Istabraq's class. The place money may be all they will fight over but Brady will be adopting an aggressive approach.
"The horse is in tremendous form and we will be making the running. I'm not saying we will beat Istabraq, but if there is a kink in him we will find it," he said yesterday.
Brady must be congratulated on his initiative but better horses than Gazalani have tried to find kinks in Istabraq and they may as well have been whistling Waterloo Sunset. Especially since Aidan O'Brien considers Istabraq to be even better this season than last.
"I think he is stronger, quicker and more forward than he was this time last year. You never know what way a race can go, but hopefully he will have a nice run around the Champion Hurdle track. The Irish Champion Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham have always been his targets," said O'Brien yesterday.
Istabraq is very much the flag-bearer of today's card, which considering the high points of yesterday not surprisingly peters out somewhat.
An interesting runner in the Beginners Chase is Sarsfield The Man, a horse with limited experience considering his age but who has always looked to have a lot of potential. His two chase starts have not yielded a win so far, and while he is likely to start favourite today, a better option could be the tough mare Notcomplainingbut.
The two finished behind Rince Ri at Navan in November, Notcomplaingbut a length and a half ahead of Sarsfield The Man. The race on the same conditions today, and while Sarsfield is sure to improve, on this tiring ground Notcomplainingbut could be a suitably hardy alternative.
There will be no more hungry rider than Conor O'Dwyer, who will be trying to make up for the time he lost with a long suspension. That suspension was really rubbed in with the success of the Christy Roche horses this week, but he rides Kadouko in the maiden hurdle for Arthur Moore and this one should be a scorer.
The former top rider, Kevin O'Brien, saddles Danceperk for the Dalkey Handicap Hurdle and this one kept on noticeably well at Navan 17 days ago when runnerup to the decent Prince De Loir in a maiden . He gets into this race on a decent mark and can beat Belle Star and Experimental.
Miners Run can take the first bumper for Willie Mullins; and the last, another three-horse race, can fall to the in-form Roche team with Billywill.
