i am not getting too carried away by epatante she beat scuea royal getting 7 lb, arguable half a dozen could have done the same ,she obviously has a good chance but not unbeatable by any means .might not have beat a great deal  the champ hurdle ? she is too short for me ,if she wins so be it .

atrick Mullins feels Saint Roi is currently number one in the pecking order among the potential Champion Hurdle contenders in Closutton.

The JP McManus-owned gelding is set for a rematch with Abacadabras in the Grade 1 Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas having chased home that rival in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown last month.

The French-bred looked a slightly unlucky loser then having run into some traffic problems and Willie Mullins' charge is favoured in the ante-post markets to turn the tables.

Speaking at the launch of Leopardstown's Christmas Festival the trainer's son and assistant assessed the yard's four potential runners in the race:-

“Saint Roi looks the number one at the moment. I know he hasn't won a Grade 1 but he has huge potential.

“He's won around Cheltenham and for me, at he moment he could be the Champion Hurdle horse.

“We were very surprised with how keen he ran in Punchestown and he gave Mark (Walsh) an awful time. Because he was so keen his jumping got sloppy.

“He winged the third last and Mark was left in a situation where he could go forward and risk him doing too much and having his race run before the last or take him back and hope he could get a run. It just didn't work out and that happens

“Looking at the race you'd like to think he'd be able to reverse the form with Abacadabras but it's not always that simple.

“I don't particularly think he needs a strong pace, for whatever reason he just got fresh on the day.

“Davis Casey rides him every day at home now and I don't expect that to be an issue again to be honest.

“It's a fascinating race. Obviously Abacadabras won the last day and he's the one we have to go and get.

“With Aspire Tower, four year olds don't have a fantastic record stepping into this open company so for me he has to prove it.

“Concertista was very impressive the last day but that was a second season mares race and this is another big step up.

“I hope she does run though because Paul (Townend) will probably ride her and that means I'll get back on Sharjah!

“I think he could be a huge price at around 10/1 as he loves the dry ground there and loves the track.

“He got a little break after Galway. We tried him back on the Flat but he just doesn't seem the same horse on the Flat.

“Last year in the Champion Hurdle it was such a big field and we dropped out. In a normal year if there had been seven or eight runners we'd have been five lengths closer.

“Would that have turned the tables with Epatante? - maybe not, but if it was a smaller field this year I wouldn't mind another crack at her.

“Saldier is a very exciting horse. He was probably going to beat Espoir D'allen in Naas the day he fell as Ruby hadn't gone for his stick and Mark (Walsh) had.

“He got a nasty fall there which put him back and he's very fragile.

“We chose not to run him in the Morgiana or Hatton's Grace as we felt he wasn't ready enough.

“You don't want to be too hard on him at home either so it's a balancing act.

“He's going to be better at March whatever he does at Christmas.”

I think Epatante was impressive last year, and her 1st outing this season was too despite beating 2nd raters; the 7lbs bonus is merely the icing on the cake. I think she'd beat the boys on level weight esp on a sound surface.

Agree impossible123, she would win at levels. Epatante looked so easy at Newcastle but there is no point speculating about how she would do at levels with geldings because she will always get the mares allowance. Aiden Coleman and Evan Williams both in their different ways agreed that their horses would not see which way she went and they know more than us mere home punters.

He's 7/4 for The Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown against Abacadabras, Aspire Tower, etc. Not value if one thinks he was extremely unlucky last time they met?

"A natural cheltenham horse".....

What exactly is that please ?

Not much mention of Aspire Tower on the forum.
I was impressed with his performance last time, and i expect further improvement.

Have taken big price for this weekend/CHurdle double.

I dont think that will happen Foyles, unless one of them wins impressively.
Just watched the 2 races involving them again,and to my eye the ones that come out best over those 2 races,are AT and SR but not by much at all.
If one of them or Aba improve enough to win well then its possible one could be fav, but it would probably have to be SR or Aba, as AT seems to have no friends(not sure why), despite my eye telling me he's the one more likely to win the Champion Hurdle out of the 3.

Aspire Tower 50 for Tuesday and Champion hurdle double, if anyone interested.

Abas was too bad to be true, never happy with the way he was traveling which is usually an asset, Elliott's horses aren't running great lately could be partly responsible, have to see how Dublin racing festival pans out.

i'd like to see HDB put him away now. he was very busy last season and he is quite hard on himself. He clearly goes well after a break.the trainer obviously knows much better than I do but as a backer thats what i am hoping for.

Or Henderson with Altior, Epatante and Santini? At least 2 of those were second. Stable form has always gone up and down like a yoyo. Philip Hobbs was having a terrible time in October/early Nov. when he is usually firing them in but now he is getting winners when he is usually quiet.

Good point Sophie, i think they may have regretted running AT between xmas and March last season.
Hes good fresh and think it would enhance his chance without a run before the festival.

abacadadras scoped badly after last run along with many of gordons that dissapointed last time .

Shut ?

Only an idiot would try and predict something like that eleven months in advance of the race lol

Mind you some idiots have been known to try and predict who will run in which race over a year away !

very open race imo hibore  jt favs  roughly 5/2 and the whole field have ? marks one way or another , epatente last run and the back problem ,honeysuckle jumping at speed on possible  faster going . those 2 too short for me , will stick with what ive got saint roi ,abacadabras and not so sleepy each way at decent prices  and hope for the best ,wont be backing anything else . not so sleepy if he lines up  is a live outsider  not sure chelt is his course but could outrun his odds .

yeah hib better ground and a hopefully big field you couldnt rule him out if he lines up ,its up for grabs imo ,few years back i backed jezki all through the winter and he kept getting blitzed by hurricane fly in the trials ,like a fool i layed a lot of my bets off on him thinking he couldnt reverse the form with the fly, then spring ground at the festival and you know the rest .

Tough to pick them a year out
God bless ye for trying
jp and wp had a little discussion
There me thinks

it is hard to pick them a year but its what we do and we are used to having a fair amount of nonners and losers but the big priced winners that we hit now and again more than make up for it !