Honeysuckle was handed a rating of 165p from Timeform following her Champion Hurdle success - John Ingles is delivering their verdict on all the championship races.
Tuesday March 16 - Unibet Champion Hurdle
When she won the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle on the same card 12 months ago to keep her unbeaten record intact, Honeysuckle’s defeat of Benie des Dieux in a high-class renewal begged the question of how close she would have gone to troubling Epatante had she contested the Champion Hurdle instead. A year later and still to taste defeat, there was no need for any such speculation, with the strongly supported Honeysuckle running out a decisive winner of the Champion Hurdle from last year’s runner-up Sharjah, with Epatante beaten almost 10 lengths back in third.
Now the winner of all 10 of her races over hurdles – each of them under Rachael Blackmore - Honeysuckle has proven better than ever in her last two races, improving again here (h165p from h160) from her 10-length victory in the Irish equivalent at Leopardstown last month. While her two main rivals weren’t at their best, and another, Abacadabras, was a faller, the form looks straightforward to interpret after a well-run race in which the winner showed the hallmarks of many a champion hurdler before her, namely sound jumping and a good turn of foot. Trainer Henry de Bromhead reported that there’s ‘every chance’ Honeysuckle will run at Punchestown next.
Epatante (h154 from h157+) won a substandard Champion Hurdle last season and just hasn’t reached the same form this season for all that she was visually impressive on her return in what was another weak Grade 1, the ‘Fighting Fifth’ at Newcastle. Proof that she wasn’t at her best on this occasion comes from last year’s runner-up Sharjah (h162 from h159) turning the tables on her this time only to find himself up against an even better mare this year. He had already received a sound beating from Honeysuckle at Leopardstown, and for the second year running ran a much better race at Cheltenham.
Usual front runners Aspire Tower (h155 from h152) and Not So Sleepy (h152 from h150) ran creditably at long odds in fourth and fifth respectively ridden with slightly more restraint, whereas Goshen (159 from 163) was a major disappointment, hanging badly right in the back straight which restricts his options if that means avoiding left-handed tracks in future.
Honeysuckle’s new rating of 165p puts her well up there with the best mares in Timeform’s experience over hurdles with the potential for still better performances to come. Dawn Run, the 1984 Champion Hurdle winner, was rated 173 over hurdles, while the 2016 Champion Hurdle winner Annie Power had an annual rating of 170+, though that figure came from her subsequent wide-margin success in the Aintree Hurdle. Incidentally, Annie Power was unbeaten in her first 10 starts (the first three being bumpers), meeting her first defeat when favourite for the 2014 World (Stayers’) Hurdle. The other mare to win the Champion Hurdle in the modern era, Flakey Dove, successful in 1994, ran to a career best of 166 when successful at Cheltenham.
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Timeform updates to come this week...
Wednesday March 17 - Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
Thursday March 18 - Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle
Friday March 19 - Wellchild Cheltenham Gold Cup