Ansar may have the edge

Grimes is on the verge of achieving a unique place in Galway history if he can add the £110,000 Guinness Galway Hurdle to yesterday's magnificent Plate success.

Blancona won the Plate in 1925 and returned the following year to land the big hurdle and the Paddy Sleator-trained Knight Errant repeated that feat in 1957-58, but Grimes is entering new territory attempting to win the big two festival pots on successive days.

The major difference with 24 hours ago will be the 27lb extra Grimes will have to carry. Although the good amateur Alan Crowe takes a valuable 5lb off his back, Christy Roche acknowledges it is not ideal.

"I would prefer if Charlie (Swan) could ride but the rules say he can't. That has to be a little bit of concern," the trainer said yesterday.

Swan is declared to ride Patriot Games, a horse he trains himself, but a class performer like Grimes, who is in such obvious good form, cannot be discounted even with topweight and the extra weight of expectation.

The likelihood of Grimes taking his chance saves the race as it currently looks but if he does come out, the weights will not rise because there is less than 10lb to the next runner in the ratings.

Either way it makes little difference to Ansar, whose 12lb penalty for scoring on Monday puts him in at an ideal 9-9 with Paul Carberry in the plate.

Ansar won twice at the festival last year and looks the principal runner from the trio representing Dermot Weld, who has won this race twice in the past and who will be hoping to go one better than Darialann's runner-up placing to Perugino Diamond last year.

A pair of British-trained winners in the last 15 years proves how dangerous their challenge can be, and only for a poor weather forecast Ulundi would be something of an automatic choice.

Paul Webber's Scottish Champion Hurdle winner is regarded as a prospect for the Champion Hurdle proper on fast ground but the elements could just be conspiring against him.

Ulundi comes here in rare form, having won a valuable flat handicap at Sandown off a 105 mark and has also won on a good to soft surface. However, there is no doubt Dean Gallagher's mount is better on good going, or faster.

If Ulundi gets a decent surface, he must have a first-rate chance of emulating Sagaman (1991) and Rushmoor (1986), but there must also be a weather warning next to his name.

A return to his best could see Moving On Up figure, and Pat Hughes's team looks strong, but if Grimes is to be foiled, Ansar could be the best bet to do it.

Yesterday's big hero Conor O'Dwyer will be egging Grimes on from the sidelines but can also pick up a winner with Coq De Mirande, who was found to be in respiratory distress when beaten last time.

Camp Fire was a Nottingham winner in 1999 and comes off a reasonable effort behind Ventura last time. The Hughes runner can defy topweight in the fillies' handicap.

Disqualified Classic winner Noverre was hailed "the best miler in Europe" after he atoned for a narrow Royal Ascot defeat with a smooth victory in the Lanson Champagne Sussex Stakes at Goodwood yesterday.

Just last week, Godolphin's colt had his earlier triumph in the French 2,000 Guineas officially taken away for failing a drugs test.

But the three-year-old wasted no time in restoring his status as a Group One winner.

Waited with longer than at Ascot by Frankie Dettori, he pounced well inside the final furlong and sprinted clear to beat No Excuses Needed by two lengths, with Aidan O'Brian's Black Minnaloushe another length and a half back in third this time.