Spring campaign likely for Stage Affair after defeat

Dermot Weld is holding fire about a possible Christmas appearance by his star novice hurdler Stage Affair.

The horse lost his unbeaten record over flights when shocked by Moscow Flyer after starting at odds of 4 to 11 at Fairyhouse on Sunday, and with the ground getting unsuitably deep all the time, Stage Affair could be kept in reserve for a spring campaign.

"We will review it but it is debatable if Stage Affair will run at Christmas. The ground would have to be at least good to yielding for him to appear," Weld said yesterday.

"He has been on the go since July, with a race every month, and hopefully he will have a very busy spring, so we could wait," added Weld whose high opinion of Stage Affair has not been altered by Sunday's setback.

"He is potentially very good. It's just on the day he met a horse too good on the ground. Tony McCoy was adamant he could not handle the ground at Fairyhouse and the horse tried to change his action to cope. The good thing is that physically he is perfect," he said. If Stage Affair's defeat was a shock, there was almost incredulity at the defeat of the 1 to 7 Istabraq, who nevertheless remains an odds-on favourite for the Champion Hurdle in March.

No physical reason for the champion's defeat by Limestone Lad came to light yesterday, with a stable spokesperson describing Istabraq's condition as "perfect". Istabraq is likely to resume his traditional route at Leopardstown over Christmas.

Another Christmas highlight will be the Paddy Power Chase, and the weights for the 56 entries were released yesterday.

Top of the pile is the Peter Beaumont-trained Niki Dee with 12st, but right behind him is the Willie Mullins-trained novice Alexander Banquet with 11-11 after a spectacular Drinmore Chase success on Sunday. Alexander Banquet also figures in the entries for the Ericsson and the Denny Gold Medal Novice Chase.

There are eight British-trained horses among the Paddy Power entries as the raiders attempt to follow up the Paddy Power victory of the Paul Nicholls-trained Calling Wild last year. Nicholls has four entries this time, including Earthmover.

The sponsoring firm make Alexander Banquet 10 to 1 antepost favourite, followed by Earthmover, Lanturn, Rince Ri and Foxchapel King, all on 12 to 1.

A total of 20 remain in the Ericsson Chase, including the Gold Cup winner, See More Business, his stablemate Escartefigue and the SunAlliance winner, Looks Like Trouble, from Britain. Whether they will travel is debatable but the Ercisson is being targeted as Imperial Call's next race. The 1996 Gold Cup winner will reportedly miss Saturday's John Durkan Chase at Punchestown to wait for December 28th, leaving 10 in the weekend's big event.

The field will be all-Irish affair and could include Rince Ri as well as Hill Society, who will miss the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown.