Lydia Hislop Road to Cheltenham: Mares' Hurdle archive

February 9 2017

No news is good news in this division, especially if you're Mullins. The most he had to report here, thankfully, was that Limini is "working well" and could head to the Punchestown mares' event in which he had intended to run Annie Power."I think she's coming back to herself - if she's not back to herself already," he said of the third favourite for this event. "Hopefully she'll get to Punchestown but the way things are going this year you'd wonder!"

February 2 2017

Apples Jade flip-flopped with Vroum Vroum Mag as favourite in some books for this market as a result of the latter's Doncaster tussle. Their Fairyhouse clash in December says there isn't much between them but the latter might be better suited if the ground were to be on the quick side. 

 We're set to see Apple's Jade later this month, with the 2m4f Punchestown mares' race that had been earmarked for Annie Power now a more plausible target than Elliott's proposed dalliance with three miles.Although Mullins and Ricci have entered second-season novice Let's Dance in this event, they could be more inclined to exploit her superior experience as a second-season novice and the mares' allowance she'll get from the boys in something like the Neptune. Her brilliant win at Leopardstown last Sunday is therefore addressed in the novice hurdlers' section.The other mare worth mentioning here is Kotkikova, the McManus-owned French recruit trained by Nicky Henderson who ran far better than a finishing position of 11th would suggest in the Cleeve.She was still travelling well at the penultimate flight (usual third last) but was being niggled on the approach it the next and got it wrong. She was swiftly beaten after that, perhaps due to her stamina running out and/or the sapping ground as well as being outclassed. The confusing element is that Jacob immediately stopped persisting so you couldn't entirely dismiss her not being able to finish off her race for a more unnerving reason.If erring on the positive, this looks the Festival race for her rather than the Stayers' event or... cough... the Gold Cup.

January 25 2017

Annie Power had cast an uncertain shadow over this race but her absence scarcely clarifies its status because owner Rich Ricci still has two leading players, Vroum Vroum Mag and Limini.The former could still be pitched into the Stayers' Hurdle given she won over three miles for the first time last month and the latter has recently been the subject of upbeat reports on her wellbeing after injury prevented her from the intended plan of running on the Flat last year.The question for Mullins and Ricci is whether a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? They could stick - run titleholder Vroum Vroum Mag in this event - or they could twist - have her take on Unowhatimeanharry in a full-blooded top-class race and gamble that the far less proven Limini can handle Apple's Jade.Given Vroum Vroum Mag couldn't quite deal with a race-fit Apple's Jade getting first run on her at Fairyhouse in early December, Limini would need to find plenty of improvement to threaten in her place.Mullins' track record testifies that he, understandably, prefers to win as many Festival races as possible but Ricci has always talked a hifalutin game about the importance of proper sporting competition.They've twice played the Festival on the front foot with Annie Power. Hopefully this is the year that super-sub Vroum Vroum Mag gets her chance to bat in the big league.

January 19 2017

There were 53 entries - the largest number since the race was instituted - and Mullins supplies 15 of them. It's a race he's won every year since Donald McCain dared to win the first running back in 2008.There were no unexpected absentees. Both Annie Power and Vroum Vroum Mag have been given this option and Mullins also offered an upbeat report on stablemate and titleholder Limini, who hasn't raced since last April."She has really come to herself in the past few weeks and is really pleasing me," Mullins said. "If I can get a race into her before Cheltenham I will but it might be hard to fine a race for her now."

January 11 2017

Lifeboat Mona improved again to win a competitive edition of Sandown's Listed Mares' Hurdle last Saturday. Switched off towards the rear, she travelled well and responded steadily to pressure in the testing going she loves.Even though Midnight Jazz had every chance after the second last, there was a sense of inevitability about the winner's victory. She's clearly a smart mare and reportedly heads straight to this race as her next target.Doubts remain about her suitability for a Grade One contest over the Old Course's sharp 2m4f on a likely sounder surface, however - even if 20/1 definitely underestimates her quality.Midnight Jazz is also improving and recent impressive Cheltenham winner Briery Queen ran very creditably, attempting to concede 4lb to the winner and being beaten three-and-a-quarter lengths with a degree of comfort.Co-owner Simon Munir took to Twitter last Sunday to announce the unfortunate news that thriving mare Missy Tata, who has won all four starts this season including a Naas Grade Three in November, has been sidelined."Unfortunately Missy Tata's spectacular season has been curtailed by a suspensory injury," wrote Munir, who owns the filly with Isaac Souede. "Fingers crossed she'll be back next season."

January 1, 2016

Missy Tata continues unbeaten this season and won Limerick's Listed three-runner affair, making all unchallenged last Wednesday. Cap d'Aubois offered the briefest whisper of a threat on the home turn but that soon dissipated and Daryl Jacob's mount carried on jumping well and galloping on the bridle to the line.It was no more than Missy Tata should have done, really, given she boasted form about two stones superior to the runner-up going into the race. She heads to Cheltenham, presumably for the 2m4f mares' event, either directly or via one more race.She ran well in last term's Fred Winter at the Festival, travelling nicely until getting caught in traffic and shuffled back on the inside from the second last. Switched to the outer to recover, she was mildly inconvenienced by one of the final-flight fallers before staying on strongly for fourth. That proves she can cope with the big field the OLBG David Nicholson tends to attract these days.She shapes as though a step up to 2m4f will bring about some improvement and the 16/1 at which she's currently offered may not be forlorn. She does have a habit of flashing her tail under pressure, however.Although she was backed, Jer's Girl was on the back foot from the first hurdle that she jumped big and slow behind Petit Mouchoir in the Grade One Ryanair Hurdle at Leopardstown last Thursday.Later recovering her position, she then tried to stalk the leaders but could make no impact and was below her best. Perhaps she had an off day at a trip now short of her optimum or maybe she just gets on with Punchestown best.Kotkikova, Nicky Henderson's new French recruit owned by JP McManus, shaped well enough on her first run for 245 days behind Vroum Vroum Mag in that Leopardstown Grade One but not well enough to suggest she'd trouble the winner at any trip.An 11-time winner herself, Kotkikova is unproven at three miles and weakened in the race itself but her new trainer believed beforehand that "she's all about stamina". Henderson now has the option of switching her back to fences in which discipline she is already a Grade One winner and boasts superior form.

December 21, 2016

Elliott reported that Apple's Jade, who narrowly bettered Vroum Vroum Mag in the Grade One Hatton's Grace at Fairyhouse earlier this month, is unlikely to be sighted over Christmas."She had three races in the space of four weeks, so we'll wait a bit longer before running her again. She'll probably have one run before Cheltenham and then we'll start thinking about which of the Festival races she'll go for."That last comment is another revisionist statement from Elliott, who'd previously said the OLBG Mares' Hurdle was her definite target. Perhaps Gigginstown think differently.

December 15, 2016

Barry Geraghty reportedly claimed he "was on fumes" after taking the mares' handicap hurdle on Briery Queen at Cheltenham last Saturday, bringing up a treble for the rider on the day. I can only assume he was jokingly referring to himself - or misquoted - because the winner looked as if she could go round again.Patiently ridden, initially to help her settle, she moved through smoothly to pick up front-running On Demand - who's been a revelation over hurdles - and register a ready success off a mark of 130 on her seasonal debut.Her best efforts had previously come on a sound surface and Geraghty said the rain-softened ground "wasn't ideal" but acknowledged she is "decent'.Clearly she must improve markedly to get involved with the likes of Vroum Vroum Mag and Apple's Jade - let alone Annie Power, were she to pitch up here.Although Debdebdeb ran well in third, she didn't quite land a blow and doesn't look as rabidly progressive as the winner. The effort of Jessber's Dream again flattened out despite this drop in trip; perhaps she needs a flatter track or a switch to fences. As predicted by the market, Run Ructions Run showed a bit more verve.

December 7, 2016

The strong impression left by the Fighting Fifth that Apple's Jade would excel at 2m4f was confirmed rather more promptly than envisaged when she made a quick reappearance just eight days later to win the Grade One Hatton's Grace Hurdle.It was a race that held as many talking points before its declaration stage as after its completion, with the consensus being that Walsh had given Mullins' sub-sub-substitute Vroum Vroum Mag too much to do in asking her to make up three to four lengths from the second last on the quickening leader. That accounted for the short-head disparity at the line, it was plausibly said.However, whichever way you splice it, there was not that much between the two mares last Sunday at Fairyhouse. You could fairly argue that the runner-up went off plenty short enough for a horse whose targets have been carefully selected by her trainer. Despite lining up on a ten-start unbeaten run, Annie Power or Quevega she wasn't yet.Vroum Vroum Mag's encounters with top-class hurdlers had been scarce. Her defeat of Identity Thief and My Tent Or Yours over two miles at Punchestown in April, a rare taking-on of the boys, is the sole qualifier - although even that was at the tail-end of the season (and the last-named had squeezed in a run at Aintree since Cheltenham).The 41-length procession of Apple's Jade's Grade One success at Aintree was actually better form than her main rival had yet posted. The doubts were whether that standout form could be literally believed, whether she'd returned to training in the same mood and whether soft ground was a prerequisite but her unlucky Fighting Fifth defeat was a convincing riposte to the former.Here, she was well positioned tracking the lead until pressing from three out and then putting Vroum Vroum Mag under pressure with a particularly nimble jump at the second last when asked for a stride by Bryan Cooper. That meant she held pole position, narrowly, to the line.The wellbeing of the winner in the preceding days convinced trainer Gordon Elliott to turn her around quickly: "I'm in a lucky position training for Gigginstown and they left it up to me. She actually weighed more than before she went to Newcastle."He is still toying with running her over three miles at some point this season and clearly deems her a medium-term World Hurdle prospect but both he and Cooper are agreed on the OLBG David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle as her primary target this season. Plans to run her over Christmas seem to have been shelved in favour of a February pre-Festival spin.She's 11/4 at best for the Festival's Grade One mares' event in markets that, if inclined to split them, can't agree which of the Hatton's Grace 1-2 should be favourite. One factor to consider is that a likely sounder surface could suit Vroum Vroum Mag better; it might also have been that she was a shade rusty on Sunday for a race that deep.She is entered in both chases and hurdles over Christmas, owner Rich Ricci having previously identified her as his King George hope prior to her being called to deputise for more celebrated neighbours in this hurdles event.Another stablemate Whiteout had featured relatively prominently in this market prior to finishing last of seven in the Hatton's Grace and has now been removed from most lists, which could be an over-reaction. She was pulled up after making an early error in the French Champion Hurdle previously but had beaten stable companion and Cheltenham winner Limini at Punchestown in April. She loves a sound surface but this was a retrograde step.At a much lower level, Tullow Tonic racked up a hat-trick at Sandown last Saturday but was given a fright by Midnight Sapphire on the run to the line after travelling smoothly into the lead at the second last. The relevance to this section is that the runner-up enhanced the form of Lifeboat Mona, who had brushed her aside at Ascot previously.

November 30, 2016

Nothing much doing in this division except to reiterate that the manner of her narrow Fighting Fifth defeat surely makes it more likely that this will be the Festival target for Apple's Jade - if she has one - rather than the Champion Hurdle. The 2m4f trip is simply more suitable, even if the ground might not be.At Newbury on the preceding day, the Nicky Henderson-trained Omessa Has was backed as if God himself had carried out her back and breathing operations subsequent to her UK debut flop at Cheltenham last April. The atheists took over nearer the off, however, and she drifted to 5/1.In the Gerry Feilden, she showed enough to suggest she has ability before weakening shortly after the third last. More is clearly needed, however.

November 23, 2016

Jer's Girl looks to have made a solid transition out of the juvenile-hurdling ranks. She might even have needed the run when beaten by Nichols Canyon last Sunday. The fact she matched strides and leaps for some time with a more proven rival is hugely encouraging at her age.McManus bought her prior to her progressive triumphs at both Fairyhouse and Punchestown at the end of last season, after she bypassed both Cheltenham and Aintree, and she has already proved her stamina for 2m4f.She starts the season on a rating of 146, which puts her bang in Limini's ballpark of 145, within shouting distance of Vroum Vroum Mag at 154 and respectfully curtseying to Annie Power on 166.You would imagine she'd be targeted at this race, if Cheltenham-bound at all. She is a contender and 5/1 or 6/1 is not awful, given two of her top four market rivals probably won't run here. The imponderable is what Apple's Jade is going to do - or indeed, what she is currently, as mentioned above.Saturday's Ascot winner, Lifeboat Mona, has the class - if perhaps not quite the speed - to be considered a player in this event. She travelled strongly under a good, cover-finding ride from Jack Sherwood, and jumped very well in to win by a ready eight lengths off a mark of 127, minus her jockey's 5lb claim.That success came over an extended 2m5f with some cut in the ground whereas the Festival's mares' event is more than a furlong sharper and usually staged on a sounder surface. That might be a concern, but she is clearly progressive.Having looked beaten at the third last, Surtee Du Berlais beat the likeable Ron's Dream at her own game with a relentless staying performance over three miles of soft ground at Kempton on Monday.She received 4lbs from the runner-up but was drawing away at the line and is unexposed at this trip, albeit she might have blown her handicap mark with this Listed success that's nonetheless pivotal to her value as a broodmare. She's set to mix hurdling and chasing this term, but soft ground is important.Neither of the first two is swift enough for the Festival's mares' event. Ron's Dream finished a respectable ninth, beaten more than 11 lengths by Vroum Vroum Mag in last term's renewal but her best efforts are more stamina-laced.Third-placed Run Ructions Run, having her second start for Dr Richard Newland, looked a tad reluctant at the start before running perfectly creditably. Jessber's Dream weakened quickly on her first start for Paul Nicholls and failed to stay on her first attempt at three miles, albeit she reportedly needed the run.

November 16, 2016

A disappointing seasonal debut was enough for new trainer Elliott to draw stumps on ambitions to campaign last season's star juvenile, Apple's Jade, against the boys in the Champion Hurdle. There was even immediate talk of stepping her up in trip. Such an early capitulation is disappointing not only for the filly but potentially the entire generation she bossed from April onwards.Her 41-length Aintree demolition of Ivanovitch Gorbatov - who'd beaten her by a relatively narrow margin in the Triumph previously, when she had suffered an interrupted preparation in Mullins' hands - was one of the outstanding performances of the season.So freakish that perhaps it was merely freak? At Down Royal two Fridays ago, a horse rated 22lb inferior and conceding 2lb beat her by a length and a half."That was disappointing," Elliott said, candidly. "She looked slow. I suppose the positive is she was only 80 per cent fit and we have not had her that long but is she a Champion Hurdle winner on that evidence? Definitely not. We will probably step her up in trip and she will win plenty of races. Ruby [Walsh] said she was flat out from a fair way out."If she does contest this race, she potentially faces at least one from a range of classy Ricci-owned former stablemates, including Limini (who didn't run on the Flat this season because "she got hurt" according to her owner), titleholder Vroum Vroum Mag and the shoulda-woulda-coulda winner of 2015, Annie Power, who infamously nosedived the last when clear before gaining - ahem - some compensation when winning an even bigger prize 12 months later.So it might turn out that Apple's Jade needs to elevate her form to pretty much Champion Hurdle calibre in order to win even this contest. Therefore 7/2 makes zero appeal.