Irish challenge: Value plays

High Definition (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Tuesday)

There were four hurdle races run over two miles at Leopardstown on the day that High Definition made his hurdling debut, and his race was the fastest of the four. It was even marginally faster than the bumper that was run over the same course and distance at the end of the day.

His jumping was novicey that day, but he was good over the first three flights in the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival. It is unfortunate that he stumbled on landing over the fourth flight and unseated his rider, because he was matching strides with Facile Vega at the time, and it would have been very interesting to see how he would have fared.

Winner of the Beresford Stakes as a two-year-old, and second, beaten a neck by Alenquer, in the Tattersalls Gold Cup as a four-year-old, when he had two Prince of Wales’s Stakes winners State Of Rest and Lord North behind him, Joseph O’Brien’s horse reached a peak rating of 119 on the flat. He is a seriously classy recruit to hurdles, and he could out-run Sky Bet’s odds of 12/1 in the curtain-raiser.

Lot Of Joy (Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, Thursday)

Like High Definition, Lot Of Joy is a classy recruit to hurdles from the flat. Winner of the Swedish St Leger as a three-year-old, Willie Mullins’ mare ran a big race to finish third in the Irish Cesarewitch off a flat mark of 93 on just her second run in Ireland, racing prominently and doing well to keep on as well as she did in a race in which the hold-up horses came to the fore.

She was beaten in each of her first two runs over hurdles, she finished second in both, but she was keen in both races and she was beaten by good novices on each occasion, both now rated in the high 130s. She got off the mark over hurdles last time at Fairyhouse, she won easily and her jumping warmed up as the race progressed. The fast pace that they invariably go in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle should suit her well, and there is every chance that she can step forward again.

Janidil (Ryanair Chase, Thursday)

Janidil did well to win the Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park last month. Weak in the market beforehand, he was last of the four runners from flagfall, and he was still last as they jumped the third last fence. Moved to the far side by Rachael Blackmore early in the home straight, he picked up well, hit the front between the final two fences and, despite getting in tight to the last and landing flat-footed, he kept on well up the run-in to win well.

That was Janidil’s first run since he was pulled up in the Punchestown Gold Cup last April. He can go well fresh, his record on his seasonal debut since he joined Willie Mullins reads 21121, but there is still every chance that he will come on for his seasonal return. Second in the Ryanair Chase last year behind Allaho, we know that he can operate at the track, and the intermediate distance of the Ryanair is probably his optimum trip. If there are any flaws in Shishkin on the day, Janidil could be the one to exploit them.

Gala Marceau (Triumph Hurdle, Friday)

Most of the talk after the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival centred on Lossiemouth’s defeat and, consequently, the performance that her stable companion Gala Marceau put up in winning the race may not have received due recognition.

It is true, of course, that Lossiemouth didn’t have the run of the race. She was shuffled back in the field at the end of the back straight, she had to go wide around the home turn, she had to do a lot of running to manoeuvre herself into a challenging position. However, once there, she couldn’t bridge the gap. She was about two and a half lengths behind Gala Marceau jumping the final flight, and she was two and a half lengths behind her at the winning line.

Gala Marceau was keen through the early stages of that race, as she had been when she was beaten by Lossiemouth at Christmas. But her run last month was obviously a step up on her run at Christmas, and there is every chance that she will step forward again at Cheltenham. A likely faster pace in the Triumph Hurdle should suit her well. Blood Destiny is also a big player, but recent history tells you that the Spring Juvenile Hurdle is the best pointer by far to the Triumph Hurdle – seven of the last 11 Triumph Hurdle winners ran in the Leopardstown race – and the disparity between the respective prices of Gala Marceau and Lossiemouth is probably a fair bit greater than it should be.

Hiddenvalley Lake (Albert Bartlett Hurdle, Friday)

Winner of his maiden hurdle over two miles and three furlongs at Naas in November, Hiddenvalley Lake stepped forward significantly from that when he stepped up in trip and won a Grade 3 contest at Cork next time.

You wouldn’t have called Henry de Bromhead’s horse as the most likely winner as they raced around the home turn that day, but his stamina kicked in on the approach to the second last flight, and he cleared away over the final flight and up the run-in to win by eight lengths.

He was beaten in a Grade 3 race at Clonmel last time, but you can forgive him that. The ground was very soft and the pace was not fast and he had to make his own running and his jumping wasn’t great, yet he was still only beaten a half a length by his stable companion Minella Star, Monalee’s half-brother, who could be good, especially on soft ground.

That Clonmel race has been used by Henry de Bromhead as a stepping-stone to the Albert Bartlett Hurdle in the past, with Monalee winning the Clonmel race and finishing second at Cheltenham, and Minella Indo finishing second to Allaho at Clonmel before springing a 50/1 surprise in the Albert Bartlett. A faster pace and better ground at Cheltenham should suit Hiddenvalley Lake, and being able to sit in behind the leaders, and it may pay to retain faith in him.

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