TRIUMPH HURDLE:IRELAND'S HOPES of collecting a first JCB Triumph Hurdle success in nine years could end up depending on ground conditions after Dermot Weld revealed yesterday that Unaccompanied requires soft going to be at her best.
Unaccompanied is a 7 to 1 second favourite for the juvenile crown after winning both her starts over flights to date and is highly fancied to become the first Irish winner since Scolardy in 2002.
However, Weld said yesterday: “She loves a good give in the ground, she’s very effective on soft ground, and whether she’ll be as fast on a fast surface is debatable.
“The Grade One at Leopardstown was a reasonably good race. I think she will progress, I think she’s very good, but she is ground dependant.”
Hidden Universe is Weld’s other Cheltenham festival possible and he would relish quicker going ahead of a tilt at the Supreme Novices Hurdle.
“He’s the only other possibility (for Cheltenham). He’s a good-ground horse and he won the Grade One bumper at Punchestown last year. He was fourth in the Grade One at Leopardstown the other day. By bringing him back in distance on better ground I think you’ll see a big run from him,” Weld said.
