Saturday
Fairyhouse 13:40 – Lunar Display
Lunar Display has already won three races this season and got a much-deserved first win in Listed company in a mares’ novice hurdle at Thurles last month. That looked to be a career-best effort and was all the more meritorious as she had to overcome a bad mistake to do it. This looks a much stronger contest and she has a 7lb penalty to carry, but hopefully she can find some more improvement and run a good race.
Fairyhouse 14:15 – Celestial Horizon
Celestial Horizon progressed really well on the Flat last season, but was a little bit disappointing on his hurdling debut at Fairyhouse last month. His jumping was just ok on that occasion and we’ll be hoping for a better display in that regard in this. If he can jump better, he will hopefully progress enough to get involved in the finish.
Fairyhouse 14:50 – Prairie Dancer
Prairie Dancer has run well in both his starts over hurdles despite not getting the best run of things. It has been good to see him settle as well as he has over hurdles, as he could often take a strong grip on the Flat. He is taking on his elders here, but gets weight as a result and I think he’ll be up to being competitive.
Sunday
Naas 13:10 – Fakir and Slige Dala
We set Fakir a tough task by running him in the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting and he fell at around the halfway mark. He was none the worst for that tumble and we’ve lowered his sights here. We feel he is fairly handicapped and hopefully he can show that here.
Slige Dala is another that I don’t feel we’ve seen the best of over fences just yet, but he’ll need to brush up his jumping if he is to fulfil his promise.
Naas 13:40 – Darasso
Darasso has already won three races this season including a Grade 2 hurdle. He carries a penalty for that success in this, but if any of the others are off their game, he’ll be there to take advantage. He is a model of consistency and while he would prefer a longer trip, he should still be well capable of getting involved.
Naas 14:10 – Champion Green
Champion Green showed promise in his first two starts over hurdles, but had an unfortunate experience last time when his saddle slipped and Mark Walsh pulled him up. He has been racing quite freely over hurdles, so we’d ideally like to see him relax a bit better here to give himself the chance to show his best in the closing stages. There should be more to come from him and we’re looking forward to seeing how he gets on.
Naas 14:40 – Faron
Faron showed promise without winning on the Flat and is the type that should be suited by hurdling. His schooling has been good, so hopefully he can translate that to the track and made a positive start to his hurdling career.
