RACING NEWS:THE SUPERSTAR veteran Hardy Eustace could yet make a remarkable seventh straight appearance at the Cheltenham Festival if trainer Dessie Hughes believes he is back to form.
The 2004 and 2005 Champion Hurdle winner has disappointed in his last two races but opened the season with a Grade One victory over Sizing Europe at Punchestown.
Hardy Eustace is entered in both the Champion Hurdle and the World Hurdle at Cheltenham and Hughes said yesterday: “He did it well when he first came back at Punchestown so hopefully there is something still left there.”
He added: “He has not been right for his last two runs as he suffered a lung infection. We will see if he is right over the next 10 days or a fortnight and if he is we will kick on and have another go at Cheltenham.
“He would have to be 100 per cent as I would hate to bring him over and have him run bad.”
Hardy Eustace first ran at Cheltenham in 2003 when winning the SunAlliance Hurdle under the late Kieran Kelly. After his two championship victories, he finished third to Brave Inca in 2006, fourth to Sublimity in 2007 and was only 12th behind Inglis Drever in last year’s World Hurdle.
