Red Mills Trial Hurdle (Grade 3)

Off time: 13:45 | Winning time: 4m 23.7s

Darasso²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-7| J: Mark Walsh| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 153| CD

7/2

Winner of this contest 12 months ago. Winner of a Grade 2 contest at Navan in March last year. Disappointed on return to action at Haydock last month in the Grade 2 Champion hurdle trail. Leading player once again.

Form: 6/2511-4

Chateau Conti^b1,t¹⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 11-0| J: P J O'Hanlon| T: R K Watson| OR: 116| D

100/1

Two from 13 over hurdles. Out of sorts in a number of starts since October and first time blinkers unlikely to bring about the required amount of improvement needed to play a role here.

Form: FP-P055

Cilaos Emery^h¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 11-0| J: Paul Townend| T: W P Mullins| OR: 158| CD

1/4

Impressive Grade 3 winner over fences at Naas in November and landed a three-runner Grade 2 at Cork before a slight hiccup at Leopardstown earlier this month. Reverts back to hurdles and capable of bouncing back.

Form: 42/1-11F

Mengli Khan^p,t²⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-0| J: L P Dempsey| T: G Elliott| OR: 145| D

10/1

Has returned to hurdling following a laboured set of performances over the larger obstacles earlier in the season. Liable to find a couple stronger once again.

Form: 4-94463

Scheu Time^t1¹⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-0| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: J Nash| OR: 129| D

20/1

Won for the third time over hurdles when landing a Cork handicap over a similar trip in December. Appears to have a mountain to climb stepping into this company.

Form: 099218

Forecasts

Cilaos Emery (1/4), Darasso (7/2), Mengli Khan (10/1), Scheu Time (20/1), Chateau Conti (100/1)

It's hard to ignore the clear and obvious chance of the Willie Mullins-trained CILAOS EMERY as the French bred gelding returns to hurdling. The eight-year-old is rated 5lb higher than his nearest rival Darasso, who won this contest in facile fashion 12 months ago. The Gordon Elliott-trained Mengli Khan looks booked for third.