Un de Sceaux’s official mark has been left unchanged on the back of his rout at Navan on Sunday but Ireland’s senior handicapper concedes the Champion Hurdle’s “dark horse” contender may be entitled to more than just one plus after that 156 rating to quantify what more there might be to come.
After stretching his unbeaten record to six at the weekend, Un de Sceaux's odds were cut by many firms for the Champion Hurdle in which his stable-mate Hurricane Fly is aiming for a third win in March, with another stable companion Annie Power also in contention to run at Cheltenham.
Un de Sceaux's profile pales in comparison to both of those stars but yesterday he was paid glowing tribute by John Ryan, trainer of Foildubh who tried to compete with the Willie Mullins star for much of the race on Sunday but was left trailing in his wake.
"He must be some horse. I don't think there's a better one in Ireland. He could win the Champion Hurdle," Ryan said of Un de Sceaux. "Hurricane Fly has been a great champion but I think he [Un de Sceaux] would beat him if the ground is like it was on Sunday. The only word of caution I would have is that he might not be as good on better ground. On better ground at Cheltenham it might be a different ball game."
In contrast Willie Mullins has said he believes Un de Sceaux may even be better on good ground but such opinions don’t matter to Turf Club handicapper Noel O’Brien, who insists he can only rate what he sees but admits to being hugely impressed by what he has seen of the French import.
“I’ve left him on 156 because I think he only did what he was entitled to do. That leaves him a long way behind Hurricane Fly who is on 175. Until he faces a more competitive field I can’t change that mark, but you could put plus, plus, plus after that 156 in terms of improvement there might be to come,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien reckons Annie Power is right in the Champion Hurdle mix with a current rating of 163 that is helped by a 7lb mares allowance.
“That 7lb brings her up to 170 and it will be fascinating to see what they do with her. She’s a bit like Un de Sceaux in that we don’t know.” he said.
