Only four horses have been entered for Sunday’s Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, which takes place at Fairyhouse on a sparkling day of National Hunt action. However, despite the small field there could be an epic clash between two stars of the hurdling division in the shape of Gordon Elliott’s Teahupoo and the Willie Mullins-trained Lossiemouth.
A dominant winner of the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival back in March, Teahupoo showed he was the best stayer in training and having defeated Impaire Et Passe in this race 12 months ago then he will head into the contest as the one to beat in the 2m 4f 70y contest.
But, in Lossiemouth he will take on a star mare that scooted comfortably clear up the Cheltenham hill in March to land the Mares’ Hurdle and then followed up with more Graded success at the Punchestown Festival. Having missed the Morgiana Hurdle last weekend, Lossiemouth is set to make her seasonal reappearance at Fairyhouse this weekend and following State Man’s defeat to Brighterdaysahead she will be looking to stake her claim as a genuine Champion Hurdle contender this season.
Both awash with quality, Teahupoo and Lossiemouth will hopefully be both declared, so we can see an epic clash between the two heavyweight trainers in Irish racing, but there will be two other contenders heading to post to try and cause a major upset.
Beacon Edge maybe in the twilight of his career, but he rolled back the years to claim victory in the Grade 2 West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby on Charlie Hall Chase day and he will be the second shot fired by the Elliott team, while Maxxum completes the trio of runners from Cullentra House and he is looking to bounce back from a last placed finish in the Lismullen Hurdle a few weeks ago.
Hatton’s Grace Hurdle 2024 Runners
| Number | Horse | Trainer |
| 1 | Beacon Edge | Gordon Elliott |
| 2 | Maxxum | Gordon Elliott |
| 3 | Teahupoo | Gordon Elliott |
| 4 | Lossiemouth | Willie Mullins |