Fairyhouse Winter Festival: Four horses to note

11:35 Saturday – IMPAIRE ET PASSE

Ireland's beginners chases are rarely short of exciting prospects making their chasing debuts at this time of year and the opening race of Fairyhouse's Winter Festival is no exception. This particular contest is often worth keeping a close eye on as last year it was won by the subsequent National Hunt Chase winner Corbetts Cross with the future Brown Advisory runner-up Monty’s Star back in third.

It’s also the race in which Monkfish, himself a Brown Advisory winner, made his successful chasing debut for Willie Mullins several seasons ago and the same stable has high-class hurdler Impaire Et Passe among its entries for this year’s renewal.

Unbeaten in his novice hurdle season which included a win in the Ballymore at the Cheltenham Festival, Impaire Et Passe remained over hurdles last term, beginning his campaign with a second at this same meeting in the Hatton’s Grace. A couple of defeats behind stablemate State Man ended hopes that Impaire Et Passe might make into a Champion Hurdle contender, but the step back up in trip paid dividends when Impaire Et Passe narrowly got the better of Bob Olinger and Langer Dan in the Aintree Hurdle. He then followed up in the Select Hurdle at Sandown on the final day of the season as part of his trainer’s successful bid for the British championship.

The good-topped Impaire Et Passe could easily prove just as good over fences in time but Saturday’s race has the makings of another strong renewal, with the entries also including several likely types from Gordon Elliott’s yard, along with Henry de Bromhead’s Martin Pipe runner-up Waterford Whispers who looks another to follow over fences.

15:40 Saturday or Sunday – YOU PROOF

Mullins and son Patrick have teamed up to win the Willie Elliott Memorial, the bumper on Saturday’s card, four times since 2013, most recently in 2021 with The Nice Guy who was a Festival winner the following season in the Albert Bartlett. They were also successful in last year’s renewal of the four-year-old bumper which closes Sunday’s card.

With a choice of engagements in the two races is You Proof carrying the Impaire Et Passe colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede. The French-bred son of Muhtathir joined Mullins after finishing second on his only start in Irish points last March behind Thatsdwayimthinkin, a half-brother to last season’s Cheltenham Festival winners Inothewayurthinkin and Limerick Lace.

You Proof is clearly held in high regard by Patrick Mullins among the stable’s bumper horses, nominating the ‘fine, big, beautiful model of a horse’ as one of his Five To Follow for the season. Mullins revealed that You Proof wasn’t quite ready in time for the Punchestown Festival but evidently sees him as a fine prospect for the longer term however he fares at the weekend.

12:30 Sunday – WILLY DE HOUELLE

The Triumph Hurdle betting is currently headed by Willy de Houelle who is the 6/1 favourite in most books without yet having run outside France. We will have a better idea of whether or not that confidence is justified after the Grade 3 juvenile hurdle at Fairyhouse on Sunday when he’ll be making his debut for Mullins in the colours of Rich and Susannah Ricci, already winners of the Triumph with French imports Vauban and Lossiemouth.

The grey made a winning debut at Compiegne in March for Galopin des Champs’ original trainer Arnaud Chaille-Chaille and, again wearing a hood and tongue tie, improved on that the following month when runner-up in a listed contest at Auteuil, showing useful form and setting a high standard for his rivals to beat on Sunday.

Willy de Houelle pulled clear of the rest behind Nietzsche Has who has gone on to better things since at Auteuil, finishing second in the top French hurdle for three-year-olds, the Prix Cambaceres, a few weeks ago. This same contest was won by the aforementioned Lossiemouth two years ago and the race’s roll of honour also features another subsequent Triumph Hurdle winner, Our Conor, as well as Espoir d’Allen who went on to win a Champion Hurdle.

14:40 Sunday – TEAHUPOO

Talking of Lossiemouth, she makes her reappearance in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle and does so as the new favourite for the Champion Hurdle despite her absence from last weekend’s Morgiana Hurdle after initially being declared for that race instead. The defeat of stablemate State Man in the Morgiana, along with news of a further setback for Constitution Hill, means that Lossiemouth heads the Champion Hurdle betting rather by default, but she has the opportunity to strengthen her claims when bidding to take her record over hurdles to nine out of ten on Sunday.

But in what looks essentially a match after just four horses were entered, Lossiemouth faces the winner of the Hatton’s Grace for the last two years, Teahupoo.

Appropriately enough for a race named after the first horse to win three Champion Hurdles, Teahupoo is bidding to become the fifth triple winner of the Hatton’s Grace after Limestone Lad, Solerina, Apple’s Jade and Honeysuckle, Teahupoo’s trainer Gordon Elliott having completed the hat-trick with Apple’s Jade between 2016 and 2018.

While the Hatton’s Grace trip is on the short side for Teahupoo who also won the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Champion Stayers’ Hurdle at Punchestown in the spring, both his record fresh and his effectiveness on testing going has made it a good launch-pad for his last couple of campaigns. Teahupoo was a surprise winner at 20/1 in 2022 when having Honeysuckle back in third as she lost her unbeaten record trying to win it for a fourth time and was then a length too good for another odds-on shot, Impaire Et Passe, twelve months ago.

A more proven stayer than Lossiemouth, a test of speed over this intermediate trip might make Teahupoo vulnerable, and he could ideally do with conditions more testing than the current ‘yielding’, but if it comes down to a test of stamina Teahupoo will again be hard to beat.

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