The JP McManus team is readying its resources for next week's Cheltenham Festival although one star name not heading to the Cotswolds is Fakir D'oudairies.
Last month's Ascot Chase winner is set to skip a clash with his old rival Allaho in the Ryanair Chase.
Fakir D’oudairies was runner-up to Allaho in last year’s Ryanair when beaten by a dozen lengths. He subsequently went one better last season in the Melling Chase at Aintree and that race is likely to be his next target.
Fakir D'oudairies was fourth to Allaho in December's John Durkan Chase at Punchestown and runner-up to Willie Mullins's star at Thurles in January.
However, he secured a third career Grade One success in the Ascot Chase when getting the better of Two For Gold at Ascot.
"He put up a good performance and had a hard race in Ascot. I'd say he will wait now until Liverpool. With Allaho being there as well, it just gives us a bit more time to wait for Liverpool. That's our way of thinking," said McManus's spokesman Frank Berry on Tuesday.
Fakir D’oudairies’ absence will leave Allaho as one of the shortest priced favourites of the week at Cheltenham.
Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle is another short odds-on favourite to repeat her 2021 Champion Hurdle victory when McManus's 2020 winner Epatanate was almost 10 lengths behind in third.
Epatante has won both her Grade One starts this season, including when dead-heating for the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, and Berry believes she has been overlooked in the run-up to next week's action.
“I think she’s a little bit forgotten. She ran well to a point last year, didn’t have all the luck in running, nothing to do with beating the winner or anything. She’s in good form and hopefully can run a big race,” he said.
McManus turns 71 on Thursday and Berry estimates the renowned owner and businessman will have up to 30 runners at the festival.
"Something like a dozen to 15 from Ireland and I suppose we'll have as many from England again. It all depends on what gets into the handicaps," he said.
It is 40 years since the famous McManus silks were first carried to success at Cheltenham after Mister Donovan landed a famous gamble in the race now known as the Ballymore. He has enjoyed 67 festival winners in all.
It is 10 years since McManus's sole Cheltenham Gold Cup victory with Synchronised but Epatante will attempt to secure him a remarkable 10th success in the Champion Hurdle.
Henry De Bromhead anticipates having a team of up to 20 horses travelling to Cheltenham next week, similar to the numbers that produced half a dozen winners between them a year ago.
“You’d hope to have most of your hard work done at this stage and it’s just a case of tweaking things really and just keeping everything right.
“You start to decide which race everyone is going for but they don’t have to be done until near the weekend. We do our confirmations at this stage and you’ll see a lot more once everyone has confirmed.
“You might leave a few down to declarations time in terms of finalising where you’re going.
“The way we travel is that our Tuesday and Wednesday runners leave on Saturday and our Thursday and Friday runners leave on the Monday, while I’ll come over on Sunday.
“We’re probably hoping to bring around 15-20 horses over, which is pretty similar to last year,” the county Waterford trainer said on Tuesday.
The team will be headed by Honeysuckle while Minella Indo and A Plus Tard are on course again for the Gold Cup in which they finished one-two last year.
“I’ve been told that Honeysuckle could go off as the shortest-priced Champion Hurdle favourite this century (Istabraq was 8-15 in 2000) but I had no idea.
“It’s probably more pressure in that of course you want her to win, but it’s like with any of them, you want them to run their best race.
“It would be unbelievable stuff if she could win again - there’s not many that can win two Champion Hurdles so it would be incredible,” he commented.
“A Plus Tard worked really well the other day and ‘Indo’ had a great run in the Irish Gold Cup so they’re both really good,” De Bromhead reported.
