Eddie O'Leary is bullish about Gigginstown's chances of landing another Bet MGM Cup, while he feels Champion Hurdle hope Brighterdaysahead has been a shade unlucky at the Cheltenham Festival.
Speaking on Thursday's Nick Luck Daily O'Leary, who is a key cog in the wheel for Gigginstown and the Gordon Elliott operation, outlined his thoughts on the Unibet Champion Hurdle, Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, Weatherbys Champion Bumper and Bet MGM Cup, a race Gigginstown have won twice in the past.
O'Leary on Brighterdaysahead in the Unibet Champion Hurdle...
"I wouldn't say [I was] excited, I’d say nervous and hopefully Brighterdaysahead gets there in one piece. We know what can go wrong, so we'll just wait until the day. We hope she gets there in one piece and she can turn her Cheltenham hoodoo around a little bit, that’s what she has to do. But we've a nice mare and we just hope she's lucky.
"I'd say there's been a little bit of ill-fortune so far, which I hope it's third time lucky. Listen, we won't overthink it, Jack's (Kennedy) in charge. Gordon hopefully has her primed, Jack’s in charge and we'll take what comes."
O'Leary on Ballyfad in the Turners Novices' Hurdle...
"I think Ballyfad thought he won as well [last time when close second at the DRF]. He’ll go two and a half [miles] I’d say. Gordon and we all feel he's hopefully better over two and a half.
"He's coming up for a trip. Both races are very deep and it's hard but we hope for starters that he’s good enough to compete, and if he's good enough to compete, then we hope to get lucky."
O'Leary on Triumph Hurdle gamble Mon Creuset...
"Mon Creuset ran a very nice race the first day in Naas, he made a very bad mistake at the second-last. But the horse who was behind him there [Moulin Labbe] came out and won very well since. He's a nice horse and it looked like he would have won very well that day.
"Last year, Willie ran 10 in the Triumph Hurdle, six of them first time out, and one of them won, so the BHA changed the rules, to say they have to have run. Now, Willie will probably have 10 horses in Triumph who have run once."
O'Leary on Storm Heart in the BetMGM Cup...
"Hopefully he's a Graded horse in a handicap, well he is obviously. Storm Heart was very good in Limerick first time out, not having run for a long time, and those were over two and a half.
"Then he came back to two the next day. He obviously needs further than two, so it was either the County or the BetMGM Cup, and it looks like he needs a trip, so he'll go to the MGM Cup."
WATCH: Storm Heart wins Red Mills Trial Hurdle on February 14
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O'Leary on Favori De Champdou and Conflated in the Cross Country...
"Favori De Champdou probably left his race behind the last day. He got an 8lb hike which for an 11-year-old is fairly hard. So his obvious chance is probably gone.
"He loves that discipline but once again, unfortunately, they've made this race a handicap. Whereas, in the years up to this, the Cross Country was a brilliant race - you had a handicap in November, a handicap in December, and at the Festival a conditions race to bring on the best horses.
"Now they changed that and made it a bloody handicap again when it was a conditions race. When it was a handicap originally, it was dying on the feet. Then they made it a conditions race and there were some fantastic stories going into the Grand National. And they've all stopped now it's gone back to a handicap.
"I'd rather a horse like Conflated, who was a proper horse, getting a lot of weight off them.
"The better the ground, the better his chance, and he seems to love this discipline. This discipline saved Tiger Roll, this has saved a lot of good older horses, and hopefully Conflated seems to have taken to it very, very well.
O'Leary on the Champion Bumper...
"Keep Him Company is who we think is our best horse going there.
"Listen, hopefully we'll run Keep Him Company, probably Charismatic Kid and The Irish Avatar. And I would say, in our mind, Keep Him Company is probably the strongest."
WATCH: Keep Him Company wins Leopardstown bumper on December 29
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