It’s a pity ITV4 viewers will not see it but there is no doubt the focal point on Saturday is Faugheen’s return to action in the Irish Champion Hurdle, to be shown on At The Races. After a mystifyingly poor effort at Leopardstown over Christmas, can this great hurdler bounce back to win this prize for a second time at the age of 10?
Age itself should not be the problem, Hurricane Fly, Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace having all won this race after turning 10. Soft ground helps these old stagers by making raw speed less important.
But it’s hard to enthuse about Faugheen’s Leopardstown’s prospects, given his flop remains unexplained. He had run to a high level the previous month, his first outing for 22 months after various setbacks, but this race looks a lot tougher than that one. Perhaps he has a last hurrah, or several last hurrahs, left in him but he does not look the right favourite here.
Surely that should be his lightly raced stablemate Melon (3.30), wearing a hood for the first time. He ran third in the Bula Hurdle in December despite over-racing throughout. If the new headgear helps him to drop the bit for the first mile this time, he should be difficult to beat.
Defi Du Seuil is an intriguing challenger and would be an automatic choice if his stable were in better form. But results on the track suggest the Philip Hobbs string are still being affected by ill health to some extent.
1.50 Sandown Seeking his ninth win in a row, Buveur D’Air has a straightforward task. It is a long time since we saw a real weakness in him and he has the best part of a stone in hand here.
2.05 Musselburgh A strong traveller with a good strike rate, Amour De Nuit looks the standout talent here. His third at Doncaster looks better than it did at the time.
2.25 Sandown Nicky Henderson could be in for a big day at Sandown, as his Terrefort looks the one to beat, three weeks after a sparkling British debut at Huntingdon. The opposition this time is much tougher but the grey surely has more to offer.
2.45 Musselburgh Best when fresh, Baby King is worth chancing on this first run back after a wind operation.
3.00 Sandown The temptation, in a fiercely competitive handicap hurdle, is to look for a young, unexposed type but that could be a mistake with a three-mile race on testing ground. Now 11, Folsom Blue has done well in two starts since joining Gordon Elliott and he looks nicely weighted on a mark 10lb below the one he had at his peak, eons ago. A winner at Clonmel in November, he now gets cheekpieces fitted for the first time since last April.
3.15 Musselburgh Dropped 11lb in two months, Southfield Theatre gets a big chance here, having run a couple of fair races this season. The tongue tie goes back on for the first time in years, while Bryony Frost claims a valuable 5lb. It may also be that going right-handed is a help to him.
3.35 Sandown It was rather a disaster when I last fancied Vino Griego and he unseated at the first here. But, having been out of the handicap that day, he is 6lb lower this time and crying out for each-way support at 20-1. He ran fairly well at Lingfield in December, is two stones below his peak mark and comes from a yard that has been winning.
Sandown 12.40 Countister 1.15 Big Jim 1.50 Buveur D'Air 2.25 Terrefort 3.00 Folsom Blue (nb) 3.35 Vino Griego 4.10 Palmers Hill
Lingfield 12.50 Paparazzi 1.25 Author's Dream 2.00 Kachy 2.35 Brother Tiger 3.05 Victory Bond 3.40 Roundabout Kitten 4.15 American Gigolo
Musselburgh 12.55 Coup De Pinceau 1.30 Keeper Hill 2.05 Amour De Nuit 2.45 Baby King 3.15 Southfield Theatre (nap) 3.45 Kelpies Myth 4.20 Wonderful Charm
Wetherby 1.00 Northern Beau 1.35 Mercian Prince 2.10 Coningsby 2.40 Vintage Clouds 3.20 Red Rising 3.55 Galway Jack 4.30 Burns Cross
Kempton 5.45 Runaiocht 6.15 Ripp Orf 6.45 Bungee Jump 7.15 Morning Has Broken 7.45 Humbert 8.15 Sky Marshal
