Could Honeysuckle avoid Constitution Hill Champion Hurdle clash?
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
Honeysuckle heads into the Dublin Racing Festival facing a fresh challenge in her illustrious career – bouncing back from defeat.
The dual Champion Hurdle heroine lost her unbeaten status on seasonal reappearance in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at the start of December after finishing behind Teahupoo and Klassical Dream.
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The defeat saw Honeysuckle eased in Paddy Power’s antepost Champion Hurdle betting market behind Constitution Hill – a clash that has been eagerly anticipated since last season’s Cheltenham Festival.
Whether that meeting comes to fruition on Tuesday, March 14 hinges on the outcome of Honeysuckle’s next race when she bids to win the Irish Champion Hurdle for a fourth time this Sunday.
A switch to the Mares’ Hurdle to avoid facing Constitution Hill at Cheltenham has been mooted but owner Kenny Alexander’s racing manager, Peter Molony, recently suggested they could call time on her career if she fails to fire at Leopardstown.
“Honeysuckle been a wonderful servant to us and owes us absolutely nothing. We all love her to bits and just want to get her home in one piece,” Molony said.
“Kenny said last year, before she was ever beaten, that if she wasn’t running to what we think is her optimum she’ll be retired and that’s the story.
“It’ll be Champion Hurdle or retire her – one or the other.”
Paddy Power’s Irish Champion Hurdle odds have Willie Mullins’ rising star State Man as the favourite to win the feature race on day two of the Dublin Racing Festival.
A victory for Honeysuckle would surely rubber-stamp her place in the Champion Hurdle, while trainer Henry de Bromhead is refusing to rule out the Mares’ Hurdle, which is shaping up to be a corker.
De Bromhead said: “We’ll see how it goes but both options in Cheltenham are open. The Mares’ Hurdle is definitely an option and the Champion Hurdle is definitely an option.
“I think we see how the Irish Champion Hurdle goes and we’ll all sit down and going by Peter’s quotes, thrash it out together!
“I think the most important thing is we keep all our options open. I suppose my job is to find the race I’ve the best chance of winning.
“That may not be what we go with. At the moment, looking at Constitution Hill and he’s whatever price he is, 1-3. I’m not saying the Mares’ race would be an easy race, but you might have a better chance of winning that than you would a Champion, if all the players turn up.
“But we have to get through the Irish Champion Hurdle first and that’s a big test for us also. We’ve got plenty to do in between.”
De Bromhead is confident that Honeysuckle will put her best hoof forward in the Irish Champion Hurdle.
“She seems great now, really good,” he said. “I thought she ran well at Fairyhouse, probably not up to her highest level, but I think for her first run back she ran really well.
“Two and a half (miles) on ground that got very soft in the end might have just been a stretch. She was beaten by a real soft ground specialist in Teahupoo and Klassical Dream is a high-class horse as well.
“She looked like she had it put to bed between the second-last and the last, and then they just came at her and that was it.
“We don’t see anything different here. Maybe that will arise on the track, I don’t know. Everyone is happy. She looks good.”
