While British eyes are focussed on Greatwood day at Cheltenham, six of Ireland’s top hurdlers will strut their stuff at Punchestown on Sunday, with a huge prize pot on offer in the Unibet Morgiana Hurdle. Greats like Moscow Flyer, Limestone Lad and Hurricane Fly have all claimed Grade One glory in this two mile hurdle and Willie Mullins’ Faugheen will be out to defend his Morgiana crown on Sunday.
The jumping world rejoiced when “the machine” made a winning return in this race 12 months ago, scorching to victory over a modest field. Three defeats followed – after which many claimed Faugheen was finished – but Rich Ricci’s star came out and proved those doubters wrong at the Festival here in April, powering to a lengthy triumph in the Champion Stayers’ Hurdle over three miles.
Faugheen’s main opposition at Punchestown comes in the shape of Samcro who was given the objective of becoming Champion Hurdler at the start of the season, instead of the expected novice chasing route. Samcro lost his position at the head of the Champion Hurdle betting after a surprise loss to Bedrock in the WKD Hurdle and Gordon Elliott’s six-year-old still has plenty to prove outside novice company.
Robbie Power will fly back from Cheltenham to renew his partnership with Supasundae in the Unibet Morgiana Hurdle. Together, they defeated Faugheen in the Irish Champion Hurdle and were on-hand to claim victory in a calamitous renewal of the Punchestown Champion Hurdle in April. While Supasundae has been impressive over longer trips – finishing second in last season’s Stayers’ Hurdle – dropping back to the minimum distance seems a sensible choice.
There’s then a decent gap in the betting before we find Sharjah, who finished six length adrift of Bedrock and Samcro in the WKD. Willie Mullins’ charge proved he had ability when winning the Galway Hurdle during the summer, but he’s yet to produce his best in Graded company and is likely to be left behind.
Patrick Mullins rides Wicklow Brave for his father, Willie, having guided the nine-year-old to second behind Supasundae at Punchestown when they last teamed up over hurdles. It’s highly unlikely Wicklow Brave would have filled a place had the market leaders not taken a tumble that day and the two-time Grade One has endured mixed fortunes in lower class company during the summer.
Tombstone rounds off the field for Gordon Elliott and it’s hard to see how he’s going to make an impact. The eight-year-old travels to Punchestown on the back of a win over fences, but he has plenty to find in terms of ratings and this two-mile trip looks a little stiff.
Verdict:
Samcro has plenty of room for improvement following his reappearance and there’s no doubting he has bundles of ability. Yet, I’m still yet to see that turn of pace required to be a top two-mile hurdler and I wouldn’t touch Samcro at his current, odds-on price.
Faugheen’s best performance of last season came over three miles and the Stayers’ Hurdle seems his likely end-of-season objective. While he’s still capable of producing the burst of speed needed to triumph in the Unibet Morgiana again, SUPASUNDAE beat him fair-and-square over this trip back in February and Jessica Harrington’s hurdler is hard to ignore in the betting.
During a recent stable tour, Harrington admitted she may have got Supasundae’s trip wrong last season. Over two miles, Supasundae was unbeaten during 2017/18, claiming two prestigious Grade Ones at two major Festivals.
Robbie Power’s mount has proven himself on the biggest stage, he has the course form in the bag and there’s obviously a plan to stay over two miles this season. A poor reappearance record is slightly off-putting, but at current odds, Supasundae is the best bet in this year’s Unibet Morgiana Hurdle.
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