High Definition is set to make his eagerly-awaited hurdling debut at Leopardstown on Boxing Day – with Joseph O’Brien looking forward to seeing how his new recruit takes to the challenge.
Winner of the Beresford Stakes at two and a one-time Ballydoyle Derby hope, the son of Galileo reached a peak rating of 119 on the Flat and competed in Group company throughout his final season on the level with Aidan O’Brien, finishing a narrow second in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and also securing a spot on the podium in the Coronation Cup at Epsom.
Now he will jump obstacles for the first time in public when lining up in the All About Sunday Maiden Hurdle which kicks off the December 26 action at the Dublin track and his new handler has been happy with what he has seen so far from the four-year-old.
“He obviously was a high-quality Flat horse and when you get to run over hurdles, it is then when you get to find out how they have taken to the change of discipline,” said O’Brien.
“We’re looking forward to seeing how he gets on. We’ve been happy with how he’s jumped.”
The two-mile contest has been won by some smart operators in recent years including Klassical Dream (2018) and Coney Island (2015), while Champion Hurdle hope State Man was sent off favourite on his debut for Willie Mullins in the race 12 months ago.
However, despite hoping his new charge can take high rank over obstacles, the Owning Hill trainer is refusing to get carried away too soon and will reserve judgement until High Definition’s first run is under his belt.
He added: “Well I suppose you’ve seen good horses who have taken to it (jumping) and good horses who haven’t taken to it, so we’re not going to run until we can walk.
“We’ll see how Leopardstown goes and hopefully he runs well and then we’ll take it from there.”
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