The Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham is a bone of contention. Should females with a sufficient high rating to run in the Champion Hurdle instead have this easier option over further? It’s a loophole connections of Lossiemouth try to exploit again this year.
There’s a lot of opinion out there on the mares only Grade 1 on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival. Sticking to facts is better. Lossiemouth won this race 12 months ago in style, but things haven’t gone so well with her from Christmastime onwards this season.
Willie Mullins landed the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle with her on reappearance, beating last term’s Stayers’ Hurdle hero Teahupoo. Lossiemouth then found Kempton too sharp for her when Constitution Hill prevailed in the Christmas Hurdle.
A fall in the back straight in the Irish Champion Hurdle last time out left no definite conclusion. Mullins and owner Rich Ricci have clearly decided Lossiemouth is better off against her own sex over slightly further and that can rebuild some confidence.
In this edition of the Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham, she sits some 9lb clear of the field. First prize is a shade under £70,000, though, and it represents a dramatic lowering of sights for Lossiemouth. Maybe connections are just being realistic.
Unbeaten at three previous trips to the Festival, Lossiemouth is a daunting prospect for 10 rivals. Of all the Cheltenham races, this one has seen some spectacular failures by favourites in recent times. See Annie Power and Benie Des Dieux in the same silks.
Both had the race at their mercy and fell. Lossiemouth just happens to be owned and trained by the same people, but that darker part of history shows not even Mullins has plain sailing with every horse.
Others Mares Hurdle Cheltenham Contenders to Consider
This isn’t a one-mare show, whatever the market on Cheltenham betting sites suggests. Lossiemouth must first run up to her rating to win, and there are a few in here that should keep her honest. Closest on official figures is her stable companion Jade De Grugy.
A flop when only fourth in the Dawn Run novice hurdle for mares at last year’s Festival, she went on score at Fairyhouse over Easter. Jade De Grugy has also landed the Quevega Hurdle easily enough on her reappearance. All of this best form is on clockwise tracks, though.
Henry De Bromhead does well in the Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham, meanwhile, twice landing it with Honeysuckle. July Flower has been in and out of his stable, but she has the stamina and now a graded win on better going that suggests she can handle conditions.
When trained in France, she finished third in their Champion Hurdle over an extended three miles and just a length-and-a-tail behind Hewick. He’s a top horse that has won big staying races like the bet365 Gold Cup and King George in his pomp.
July Flower beat the likes of re-opposing pair Kala Conti and Jetara, who has won a Grade 2 herself since, fair and square around Leopardstown over this trip at Christmas. The supplemented Joyeuse, meanwhile, looked better than a handicapper with her Newbury rout.
Nicky Henderson and JP McManus paid a modest supplementary fee to put her in the Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham. Lossiemouth’s presence makes her task harder, but Joyeuse is lightly-raced and from the family of connections’ Champion Hurdle heroine Epatante.
In other words, there are alternatives to Cheltenham favourite Lossiemouth that aren’t pivoting to this contest as an afterthought. The wisdom of switching is something we can only establish later.
