The Cheltenham express is back on track after Istabraq swept the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle opposition aside in devastating fashion at Leopardstown yesterday.
In the process the pre-race rumour train that all was not well with Istabraq was comprehensively derailed and now the JP McManus-owned superstar is on the verge of history.
No horse has ever won the Smurfit Champion Hurdle four times, but the general consensus seems to be that other hurdling legends like Persian War, Sir Ken, Hatton's Grace and See You Then are about to be eclipsed.
The bookmakers certainly believe they will be, as Istabraq is now as short as 2 to 5 for the championship, and any concerns there might have been about how Istabraq might react to his fall on New Year's Eve were blown away.
Istabraq travelled like a winner throughout the £100,000 race, and even though Moscow Flyer, who had ultimately won the New Year's Eve slog, was leading when taking a horrible fall at the second-last flight, no one was under any illusions about Istabraq's superiority.
"He felt different today because the ground was different," reported Charlie Swan, who asked for and got a spectacular leap at the final flight. It only confirmed what the race had already told us.
Swan settled Istabraq in fourth off a good pace set by the 100 to 1 outsiders, Have Merci and Aerleon Pete, and was waiting to pounce on Moscow Flyer when that one fell. That allowed Mantles Prince up the inner, but Swan was motionless all the way up the straight and the partnership went by the post with characteristic elan.
"I had been just a little worried after the last day but the horse is as good as he ever was," said Swan. "My only concern in the race was when Barry (Geraghty) fell underneath my lad's legs at the second last."
Aidan O'Brien revealed Istabraq could need "a day away" to keep his weight in check and that may require a racecourse school. "He's getting so heavy we may box him somewhere."
Moscow Flyer was unhurt and will go for the Champion Hurdle also. "He took a horrible fall but he lives to fight another day," said his trainer, Jessica Harrington.
Mantles Prince will run in Gowran Park's Red Mills Trial Hurdle, but Pat Hughes isn't committing his horse to Cheltenham just yet. "The Champion Hurdle is an option but we could wait for Liverpool instead," he said.
The surprise of the race was the excellent effort by the 50 to 1 outsider, Penny Rich, who finished just seven lengths off the champion and will now be aimed at the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
Swan and Hughes later combined to land the odds with Doonaree, who overcame a slow pace to just hold off Forrestfield by half a length in the maiden hurdle; while another odds-on winner in the McManus colours was LikeA-Butterfly, who kept her unbeaten record in the bumper.
Well Ridden, owned by senior counsel Frank Clarke, was cut to as low as 8 to 1 for Cheltenham's Arkle Trophy after picking up the Irish equivalent by seven lengths from the favourite, Ross Moff.
The latter's rider Adrian Maguire received some barracking from the crowd when he returned to unsaddle, but it was a happier scene in the number one spot, where Arthur Moore said: "I'm not sure it was quite a Cheltenham Arkle performance but that race is on the agenda, especially if the ground is on the soft side."
Cheltenham is also on the agenda for Feeling Grand, whose success in the Clarkson Handicap Chase ignited the chance of a £20,000 bonus if he can win a handicap at the festival. The Grand Annual and the Mildmay Of Flete are on trainer Henry de Bromhead's mind, and he said: "I hope the horse will improve again on better ground."
However, the festival is not on Ger Lyons's mind for the horse he believes "is as nice a horse as I've ever had". Big-And-Bold was the outsider of the novice hurdle field but won it with no arguments by six lengths from For Paddy's Day, and Lyons added: "The ultimate plan is to go chasing with him."
Barry Geraghty recovered from his fall from Moscow Flyer to complete a double with Secret Native in the Ashford Handicap Hurdle. The Tom Taaffe-trained winner was completing a course double and added to Geraghty's earlier victory on Feeling Grand.
The crowd of 11,190 generated a bookmaker turnover of £1,581,195, which was up £337,948 on last year. The Tote figure was also up £35,854 to £278,452.
