Irish Review: Fairyhouse Easter Festival

Ante-post / Timeform / 11 April 2010 / Leave a comment

Willie Mullins has a leading contender for the World Series Hurdle at Punchestown in the shape of Mourad

No sooner does the Cheltenham Festival come to an end then thoughts in Britain turn to the Grand National meeting at Aintree, and it's a similar situation in Ireland, with Punchestown looming large after the Easter Festival at Fairyhouse, which concluded earlier in the week.

"The best performance at Fairyhouse was surely Mourad’s 12-length defeat of Irish Champion Hurdle runner-up Donnas Palm in the Grade 3 Ladbrokes.com Hurdle"

The best performance at Fairyhouse was surely Mourad's 12-length defeat of Irish Champion Hurdle runner-up Donnas Palm in the Grade 3 Ladbrokes.com Hurdle. Last season's Triumph Hurdle third has taken time to rediscover his best form this time around, and was ruled out of Cheltenham with a late setback, but on this evidence he'd have taken a lot of beating in the Coral Cup off a BHA mark of 147. He cruised into the lead between the last two and coasted clear on the run-in, setting himself up for a fascinating clash with World Hurdle runner-up Time For Rupert in the World Series Hurdle at Punchestown.

Ground conditions were unseasonably testing throughout Fairyhouse, and of the twenty-six runners that set out in the Irish National only eleven completed, but that takes little away from the performance of Bluesea Cracker, who became the first mare to win the race since Ebony Jane in 1993, and in the process looked very much the type to make an impact in the Aintree version another year.

Another attritional contest at the meeting was the Grade 1 Powers Gold Cup and everything went the way of Jadanli, who was left clear by the fall of the frustrating Zaarito three out and went on to record a twenty-three length success over Deal Done in a race which only three finished. Jadanli will need to raise his game to make an impact at graded level outside of novice company next term, while Zaarito has now fallen on four of his seven starts over fences and clearly needs to learn how to fiddle his way out of a tight spot if he is to make the breakthrough he is capable of.

Zaarito isn't entered in the 2m Ryanair Novice Chase at Punchestown, but a possible contender for that event emerged the following day in the shape of Psycho, who has managed to reach the useful level he was capable of over hurdles in just three starts over fences. Psycho really impressed with his jumping in making all in the seventeen-furlong novice handicap and heads to Punchestown in peak form and on the back of a lighter campaign than many of his potential rivals.

Luska Lad has had a busier time of things, but bypassed Cheltenham and showed he is still going strong when completing a hat-trick in the Grade 2 novice hurdle which kicked off the meeting. He had to work hard to see off Blackstairmountain by three quarters of a length but is the highest rated novice in Ireland behind Dunguib and looks sure to be suited by the step up to two and a half miles if he takes up his engagement in the Grade 1 Cathal Ryan Memorial Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

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