The best of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival could be saved to last when probably the two top mares in the game take each other on in the featured Grade One December Hurdle on Monday.
Lossiemouth lost her status as favourite for Cheltenham’s Champion Hurdle on the back of Sir Gino’s Kempton success on St Stephen’s Day.
The triple-Cheltenham Festival winner, and eight-time Grade One winner, is still rated Ireland’s best chance of championship glory in March, but has a major task on her hands on the final day of the racing at Christmas.
Not only does she have to banish lingering doubts about a quick two miles being short of her best, there’s also the fact she took a crashing fall on her last Leopardstown start at the Dublin Racing Festival.
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On top of that, there’s also the matter of Brighterdaysahead returning to the scene of her spectacular 30-length triumph in this race a year ago.
Gordon Elliott’s decision to abandon a novice chase campaign and supplement Brighterdaysahead into this race has set up a potentially epic clash between a pair of genuine stars.
Both hold official ratings of 159. Just over an hour beforehand, another Elliott star, Wodhooh, will be short odds to make her first start in Ireland for over two years a winning one. Her 154 rating is superior even to the reigning Champion Hurdler, Golden Ace.
Lossiemouth’s stable companion Spindleberry, who lines up in a Listed contest at Doncaster on Monday, is among a number of good mares operating over fences. But it’s no stretch to argue the best of their sex shape like dominating Monday’s €150,000 feature.
Both have question-marks hanging over them, the most obvious being that Brighterdaysahead hasn’t run this season, and no real explanation has emerged for her two poor efforts following her sweeping success in this race last year.
She never looked happy in the dramatic Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham that effectively saw Golden Ace emerge as the last one standing.
Every signal from the in-form Elliott team, though, suggests confidence that the apple of her trainer’s eye is back to her best. If she is, and with the memory of her 2024 rout still fresh, Lossiemouth faces quite the task in just winning this race, never mind getting back to the summit of the Champion Hurdle betting.
In her own quiet way, Wodhooh might have inserted herself even more firmly into the championship picture by then.
The mare beaten just once in nine starts for Elliott has to concede weight against her own gender in the Grade Three Mares’ Hurdle, but on the back of her impressive Ascot performance last time is still well clear on official figures.
Wodhooh is disputing favouritism with Lossiemouth for Cheltenham’s Mares’ Hurdle, but is also as low as 14-1 for the Champion. She’s even in the Stayers reckoning. Come 2.45pm on Monday, that picture could look a lot different.
Monday’s maiden hurdle at Leopardstown sees some highly promising types from the country’s top yards line up. Forty Coats has a good run to his name at the top level in Cheltenham last season. However, Jalon D’oudairies, representing Elliott, has a promising effort behind Sortudo at Cork under his belt already.
Bud Fox might prove a solution to the bumper on the prevailing ground conditions. He was only third on soft going at Cheltenham when his stable was in a slump. Impressive at Punchestown last spring, he has Derek O’Connor back on board.
Well Dell returned to action with a good run on heavy ground at Fairyhouse, and might be able to exploit a light weight in the Opportunity Handicap Chase. A winner on good ground, Declan Queally’s runner also sports first-time blinkers.
Limerick’s final day festival feature is a €50,000 handicap hurdle where the Elliott-trained lightweight Combs might be able to overcome being 6lb out of the proper handicap.
Hees Dynamite will be a popular local hope for Eric McNamara in an earlier handicap chase. He has won three of his last four, including over hurdles here on heavy ground. The problem, though, could be significant weight concession to Duffys Hodey.
The Rothwell runner is 1lb “wrong” on ratings, but was a hurdles winner off a mark of 103, which makes a chase rating of 83 look exploitable on the back of a good recent return to action.
