Joseph O'Brien on plans for shock Lismullen Hurdle winner Home By The Lee

The Stayers' Hurdle (15:30) at Cheltenham on Thursday is available as a free Race Pass, which means logged-in customers can view all our premium comments and ratings. This is an open renewal of the Stayers' Hurdle (15:30), with four of the first six home from last year among the field of eleven, and while there are just the two home-trained…

Gavin Cromwell has said that two-time Cheltenham Festival winner Flooring Porter is'50-50' to return for the four-day meeting in March after suffering a setback. Flooring Porter has been one of the most exciting horses to watch in the past two years, largely thanks to two triumphant back-to-back victories in the Stayers' Hurdle at the festival and…

By Andrew Asquith, Saturday 14 January 2023 Posted in: Cheltenham Festival Tips Andrew Asquith looks ahead to the 2023 Stayers' Hurdle and picks out his best ante-post bet. At this stage the Stayers' Hurdle looks wide open and that is reflected by the betting with most firms going 5/1 the field. The obvious place to start is with one of the…

The Churchill gelding was a neck superior to Dixon Cove in the Grade Two event at Chepstow over Christmas. The JP McManus-owned four-year-old had previously finished third at Fairyhouse to Triumph Hurdle favourite Lossiemouth, who subsequently franked that form by winning a Grade Two at Leopardstown on Boxing Day. The Owning Hill handler is keen to…

There are some surprising names still left in the 28 entries for the Stayers' Hurdle, particularly the name of star 2 mile chasing veteran Chacun Pour Soi for Willie Mullins. The master of Closutton is not averse to making multiple entries for the Festival, and has also thrown in last season's Ballymore hero Sir Gerhard. The betting is wide open…

Home By The Lee (left) wins the Christmas Hurdle There is a new name atop the Stayers' Hurdle market after Home By The Lee silenced any doubts about his Lismullen Hurdle success with a resolute performance to capture the Jack de Bromhead Christmas Hurdle. The delighted winning trainer Joseph O'Brien indicated the new 6-1 outright favourite with…

Home By The Lee proved his surprise victory at Navan last month was no fluke with a battling success in the Jack de Bromhead Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown. Joseph O'Brien's charge was a widely unconsidered 28-1 shot for the Grade Two Lismullen Hurdle in mid-November, but knuckled down to see off the strong-travelling Bob Olinger, with Ashdale…

Home By The Lee is favourite for the Stayers' Hurdle after his win in the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown Home By The Lee was slashed into a general 6-1 favourite for the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival after a comfortable success in the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown. But is the improving seven-year-old value? Three of our experts…

Home By The Lee proved his surprise victory at Navan last month was no flukewith a battling success in the Jack de Bromhead Christmas Hurdle atLeopardstown. Joseph O'Brien's charge was a widely unconsidered 28-1 shot for the Grade Two Lismullen Hurdle in mid-November, but knuckled down to see off the strong-travelling Bob Olinger, with Ashdale Bob…

Bob Olinger (left) must overcome Flooring Porter (right) if he's to win Leopardstown's Christmas Hurdle This division is all over the place at the moment but if Monday's rescheduled Long Walk Hurdle told us anything, it was that the old guard still has plenty to offer in the new world of staying hurdling. Paisley Park taught the new dogs a few…

Michael O'Leary's first time at the races this season saw him in the Grade 1 winners enclosure at Leopardstown after Conflated delivered the Ryanair boss another Savills Chase success. Proving once again perhaps that it's better to be both lucky and rich, O'Leary's rare day at the races coincided with a late injury scare that ruled out the Gold Cup…

2022-12-28Conflated in the Cheltenham Gold Cup picture after dominant win at Leopardstown The Gordon Elliott-trained eight-year-old was a surprise winner of the Irish Gold Cup over the course and distance last season and went on to run well before falling two from home in Cheltenham's Ryanair Chase before pushing Clan Des Obeaux close in the Bowl…

Conflated put himself firmly in the Cheltenham Gold Cup picture with a dominant success in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown. The Gordon Elliott-trained eight-year-old was a surprise winner of the Irish Gold Cup over the course and distance last season and went on to run well before falling two from home in Cheltenham's Ryanair Chase before pushing…

Newsboy's Nap selection for Wednesday, December 28, is the Dan Skelton-trained Unexpected Party at Leicester (12.45). The next best is Leopardstown runner Flooring Porter (1.45) Frankie Dettori announces retirement as horse racing legend confirms farewell plans Dan Skelton's UNEXPECTED PARTY (12.45. nap) appeals over fences at Leicester in the…

Leopardstown 13:10 - Falcon Eight (each-way) Leopardstown 13:45 - Flooring Porter Leopardstown 14:20 - A Plus Tard Leicester 14:35 - Issam (each-way) Leopardstown 14:55 - Gentlemansgame Leicester 15:10 - Honneur D'ajonc (each-way) *All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but…

We've used the unique Timeform Flags to pick out a bet on Wednesday. Flags are an evolution of Timeform's long-standing practices. Collectively they represent a unique set of modern and useful innovations to give you even more of an edge. Flags: Horses For Courses, Top-Rated Flooring Porter has won the last two editions of the Stayers' Hurdle at…

It was when winning the Christmas Grade One in 2020 that the eight-year-old first announced himself as a leading player in the staying division and although having to settle for second behind stablemate Minella Indo at Prestbury Park later that season, got his crowning moment earlier this year when romping away with the blue riband in the hands of…

The third and final Grade One on a stacked card at Fairyhouse on Sunday is the Hatton's Grace Hurdle. Honeysuckle has kicked off her last three seasons with a victory in this two-and-a-half-mile Grade One and Henry De Bromhead's unbeaten star tops the market for Sunday's renewal. We've taken a look through the confirmed field for Sunday's Hatton's…

Leopardstown's Christmas Festival is likely to be the next port of call for Home By The Lee following his surprise victory in the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan. The seven-year-old has been overlooked on several occasions this year - finishing second in the Galmoy Hurdle as an 80-1 shot in February and sixth at 33-1 in the Stayers' Hurdle at the…

NOW the dust has settled on a wonderful Flat season, National Hunt fans are steadily coming out of hibernation and the magical C word is hot on the lips of punters across the land. For my first ante-post selection I'm keeping it extremely simple, with a horse who will be laid out for this one target all year. Trained by a master of his craft in…

Sunday: Railway Bar Lismullen Hurdle, Navan Home By The Lee sprang a shock in the Railway Bar Lismullen Hurdle at Navan on Sunday, having traded at 999-1 in running on Betfair. The Grade 2 contest was widely seen as a clash between smart hurdlers Flooring Porter and Zanahiyr plus Bob Olinger, who was returning from fences. But they were upstaged by…

It's often said in GAA circles that you know when championship is approaching as some big names start reappearing and the same is true in racing terms this weekend. hings are heating up when you stars like Flooring Porter, Bob Olinger and Ferny Hollow are strutting their stuff at Navan tomorrow and the Grade Two Railway Bar Lismullen Hurdle (1.55)…

The presence of Bob Olinger and Galopin Des Champs has produced some Cheltenham Festival history as Thursday's four-runner Turners Novices' Chase (1.30) will be the first all-Irish race at the meeting. It is the smallest field at jump racing's showpiece event in almost 30 years and the race's lowest field since introduced in 2011. There were 16…