Solwhit stays on course

REPORT FROM LEOPARDSTOWN:A LOT of Cheltenham contenders may be keeping their powder dry until March but what Solwhit put out to win yesterday's Toshiba Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown looks like being the benchmark for everything else come the big day.

There was certainly enough in his four and a half length defeat of Donnas Palm and Sublimity for some bookmakers to make Solwhit a 3 to 1 favourite to become the first since Brave Inca (2006) to complete the Irish-English Champion Hurdle double.

However, some 6 to 1 about the Charles Byrnes-trained star remains out there too which reflects the continued belief in some quarters that this year’s championship remains wide-open with no standout contender.

It was impossible to crab Solwhit yesterday though as he thrived off a strong pace to exhibit the full range of his ability.

“He doesn’t take a lot of work and he was ready for today. You saw him there, take it or leave it. There’s no improvement to come,” Byrnes said. “What he has wanted all year is a proper run race and he got it there. I just hope he is in the same form at Cheltenham.”

The Co Limerick trainer expressed some reservations about the ground turning out too fast at Cheltenham but jockey Davy Russell insisted the only pre-requisite for Solwhit will be plenty of pace.

“The hill is tailor-made for him,” he said. “I’ve never ridden a Champion Hurdle winner but that’s what I feel. He is living up to expectations and travelled very well there. I came off it before Sublimity but that’s the norm and I kept picking up.”

Philip Carberry dispensed with the usual hold-up tactics on Sublimity but that didn’t result in a form reversal with Solwhit from Christmas and it was left to Donnas Palm, owned by a syndicate including the Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who was present yesterday, rallying for second.

“At Christmas, Davy got first run on us so Philip was careful not to let him away from us,” said Sublimity’s trainer Rob Hennessy. “He jumped brilliantly and on good ground he will be bang there again.”

Henry De Bromhead has a prime candidate for the Cheltenham Arkle in Sizing Europe but it was his less-heralded stable companion An Cathaoir Mor who successfully stepped in for yesterday’s Irish Arkle and netted the Grade One prize in thrilling fashion.

The front running trio of Take The Breeze, Major Finnegan and Sports Line set a frantic pace and although the latter appeared a likely winner turning in, he had nothing left when David Casey pounced on the run in with An Cathaoir Mor.

“He gave him some ride. We took a chance running again within a week but he has a tough constitution. He has to come late and David knew they were going some gallop so he figured he was a cert turning in!” De Bromhead said.

The winner is not certain to go to Cheltenham but Sports Line is and Willie Mullins said: “To gallop at that speed around Leopardstown on just his second start was great and I would hope he will improve a lot.”

Rite Of Passage duly justified 4 to 9 odds on his jumping debut in the maiden hurdle and is now a general 10 to 1 shot for the Neptune Investments Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham.

It wasn’t entirely straight-forward, however, as a loose horse carried Dermot Weld’s runner wide on the turn in but he still overhauled Grey Soldier with some ease.

In contrast the long odds-on Quel Esprit got turned over in the Grade Two novice hurdle as Coole River edged him close home but Ruby Walsh produced a fine ride on the topweight Dooneys Gate to overhaul Show Blessed in the handicap chase.