Tony McFadden provides an overview of the most interesting event at Punchestown.
Fascinating clash between two good prospects
Arguably the most interesting contest at Punchestown on Monday - with a view to the future, at least - is the mares' maiden hurdle (14:10) as Maughreen, the ante-post favourite for the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, makes her first start over jumps.
As the spelling of her name suggests, Maughreen comes from the same family as the top-class Faugheen. She is out of an unraced half-sister to Faugheen and looked an exciting prospect on her bumper debut at Punchestown last January when readily pulling 11 lengths clear and propelling herself to the head of the Champion Bumper betting.
A setback ruled Maughreen out of the Cheltenham Festival last season but it will be fascinating to see whether she can establish herself as a leading contender for the meeting this time around as she by no means faces a penalty kick on her hurdling debut.
She's up against Familiar Dreams, a mare who has taken a very rare route to Punchestown via Kentucky Downs! She failed to beat a rival in the Nashville Gold Cup when last seen in September, though may well have been unsuited by the extremely quick ground and is better judged on the useful form she showed in bumpers last season.
Familiar Dreams won four times in bumpers, most notably in a Grade 3 at the Punchestown Festival where she earned a Timeform rating of 109, the joint-highest awarded to a mare in bumpers during the 2023/24 season (Aintree winner Diva Luna was rated the same). For comparison, Maughreen was rated 103p following her Punchestown victory, though she ran to a high level for one on debut and it's likely she would have achieved a higher figure had she been presented with more opportunities.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
