State Man will have to see off a new rival in the shape of the resurgent Bob Olinger and three others if he is to record a repeat success in the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle, one of four Grade 1 races at Leopardstown on Sunday.
After a gap of 20 months, Bob Olinger found winning form again to score at Navan in November and he followed up for Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore in even more authoritative fashion at Cheltenham on New Year's Day.
Now bidding for a first success over two miles, Bob Olinger comes up against a trio from the Willie Mullins stable, the country’s top hurdler State Man, Impaire Et Passe, and the mare Echoes In Rain. The Gordon Elliott-trained Fils D'oudairies completes the line-up.
Early favorites Ballyburn, Farren Glory, and Slade Steel, trained by Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, and Henry de Bromhead respectively, head a 10-runner field for the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland 50th Derby Sale Novice Hurdle. Mullins runs five in the race with Absurde, Daddy Long Legs, Gold Dancer and Jit Langy also lining out, while Elliott has King Of Kingsfield as back-up, with Jarlath Fahey’s Boher Road and the Tom Mullins-trained Fascile Mode also declared.
El Fabiolo leads the way in the five-runner Grade 1 Ladbrokes Dublin Chase.
His trainer Willie Mullins has also declared Dinoblue, Gentleman De Mee, and Saint Roi with Henry de Bromhead’s Captain Guinness the only opposition to the champion trainer’s runners.
Five horses are also declared for the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Novice Chase, won by Galopin Des Champs two years ago, and it’s his trainer Willie Mullins that easily boasts the strongest hand with Gaelic Warrior, Fact To File, and Grangeclare West making up a thoroughly formidable Closutton team.
Gordon Elliott takes him on with American Mike and Found A Fifty although the latter is also among the runners for Saturday’s Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase.
A total of 16 horses go for the Grade 2 Coolmore NH Sires Hurricane Lane Irish EBF Mares INH Flat Race with Aurora Vega a most notable runner as she bids to stretch her unbeaten run to four.
Her trainer Willie Mullins will also be represented by previous winners Femme Magnifique, Fleur Au Fusil, and Baby Kate, and heading the opposition and out to give trainer Stuart Crawford a second win in the race is Mongibello.
Jonathan Sweeney’s Barnahash Primrose and the Pat Foley-trained Miss Mini Bee impressed with debut wins in December while a definite eyecatcher among the declarations is the Gordon Elliott-trained Holly Brook which makes her racecourse debut just two months on from a point-to-point success at Borris House.
Racing begins with the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Paddy Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle with Henry de Bromhead’s Foxy Girl, Willie Mullins’ Risk Belle, Paul Nolan’s Feet Of A Dancer, the Gordon Elliott-trained top-weight Shecouldbeanything and the Eoin Griffin-trained Splashing Out among the principals. The 20-runner affair also includes Belle Of Annandale, trained in Yorkshire by Adrian Keatley.
The O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey Leopardstown Handicap Chase has attracted a full field of 25 runners and again Henry de Bromhead has leading contenders in Heart Wood and Percy Warner.
Gavin Cromwell’s pair Perceval Legallois and Inothewayurthinkin and two from the Willie Mullins yard, James Du Berlais and Meetingofthewaters, also make plenty of appeal. Third in the race last year, English raider Top Ville Ben takes his chance for Philip Kirby.
The two-mile Timeless Sash Windows Handicap Hurdle has 22 runners and Henry de Bromhead might fancy his chances once more as he runs both Magical Zoe and An Tobar.
So Scottish is a notable runner for Emmet Mullins and the same can be said about Joseph O'Brien’s Common Practice, Eoin Griffin’s One Last Tango, the Edward Cawley-trained Ataboycharlie and By Your Side, one of five runners for Gordon Elliott.
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