Racing News: Spirit Leader, who had been the shortest priced Irish hope for Tuesday's Smurfit Champion Hurdle, is out of the big race.
Her trainer Jessica Harrington confessed to being "desperately disappointed" at having to pull the plug on the mare's championship bid yesterday.
"She is just not sparking at the moment and so she won't be running," Harrington said. "The timing couldn't be much worse but there it is."
Spirit Leader won the Vincent O'Brien County Hurdle at the festival last year and was the intended mount of the season's leading rider Barry Geraghty in the Champion Hurdle.
Spirit Leader had been as low as 8 to 1 with some firms in the lead up to the festival and was one of 17 declared at yesterday's five-day stage.
Willie Mullins will leave it as late as possible before deciding which race Sadlers Wings will run in at Cheltenham but the trainer has nominated the star novice as his best chance of a festival winner.
The unbeaten hurdler has been heavily backed in recent days for both the Leth' and Christ' Supreme Novices Hurdle and the SunAlliance Hurdle but Mullins is not disclosing yet which one he will plump for.
"I've confirmed him for the Supreme and I will confirm him for the SunAlliance. I want to leave it as late as I can before deciding so it will probably be Sunday before I can say anything," he said yesterday.
The Co Carlow trainer expects to have up to 15 runners, including a probable six in the Wetherbys Champion Bumper, at Cheltenham next week as he goes in search of an eighth festival success.
But when asked for his idea of his best chance of 2004 he didn't hesitate to nominate Sadlers Wings. "I've always thought Sadlers Wings would be my best shot and nothing has happened to change my mind. I'm happy enough with him," Mullins said.
Riding arrangements for his huge bumper team have yet to be finalised but there will strength in depth as the Mullins team go in search of a remarkable fifth victory in the race.
Other Mullins festival contenders include Davenport Milenium in the Smurfit Champion Hurdle, the mercurial Holy Orders in the Stayers and Euro Leader in the festival opener on Tuesday.
Edward O'Grady makes no secret that he believes the SunAlliance Chase hope, Pizarro, is his best hope of an 18th career festival winner. O'Grady gave an upbeat report on Pizarro's progress yesterday on the back of his PJ Moriarty success at Leopardstown last month. "That trip was as short as he wants and he will improve for the step up to three miles at the festival," O'Grady said.
"He is running in what is really the prep' race for the premier event next year (Gold Cup) but I've never won a SunAlliance and would like to. He is very much my main hope," he added.
Horse Racing Ireland announced yesterday that there will be eight Saturday evening meetings this year after four more fixtures were confirmed. There had been some doubt about the status of Kilbeggan (May 8th), Limerick and Wexford (May 29th) and Cork (June 12th) but they will now go ahead as planned.
The HRI representative Frank Timmins will act as a facilitator in talks between trainers and stable staff over pay and conditions on those dates.
HRI have also approved a 100 per cent grant of €430,000 for track widening at Naas. It will mean a new minimum width of 110 yards at the track.
