Patrick Mullins fears Lossiemouth faces a tall order when she faces Teahupoo in Sunday's Bar One Racing Hatton's Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse.
It's a heavyweight showdown and Mullins said: “It’s another incredible race after State Man and Brighterdaysahead, after the firecracker in the John Durkan, after Sir Gino v Mystical Power, now we have the Champion Hurdle favourite taking on the Stayers’ Hurdle favourite over two-and-a-half miles. We’re spoiled at the moment.
“It’s going to be hard for Lossiemouth. We’ve no doubt this is Teahupoo’s big, main aim. Gordon will have him 100% ready for this then they usually freshen him up for Cheltenham.
“This is a starting point for us. A bit like State Man against Brighterdaysahead, I think we might get caught for fitness. I’d imagine they’ll ride a positive race, Paul will creep away, and you don’t want to gut her over two-and-a-half miles.
"But you’d like to see coming down to the last on his tail or beside him and if she gets beat from the back of the last then so be it."
All eyes are on stablemate Willy De Houelle in the Bar One Racing 'Price Boosts Across All Channels' Juvenile Hurdle.
Bought from France by Susannah and Rich Ricci, he's been a big talking horse through the autumn and is already a warm favourite for the JCB Triumph Hurdle.
However, Mullins warned: “He’s settled into Closutton perfectly but I think his form has taken a few knocks from what it looked like in the spring when we bought him.
“He’s a nice horse, not overly-big but well proportioned. He won’t catch your eye, but he’s a grey, athletic and I like the shape of him.
“We haven’t really looked under the bonnet too much, like a lot of ours they’ve just been working on their own and going through the motions as such. There’ll be a lot of improvement to come from him but we’d be hoping natural ability will make him competitive.
“It's a big ask stepping straight into a Grade Three and it’s a very competitive race but again a bit like Lossiemouth you’d expect him to come there at the last and if he tired from the back of that we won’t worry too much.”
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