Brighterdaysahead produced a stunning performance at Leopardstown on Sunday, but Matt Brocklebank was still left wondering whether the star mare will run in the Champion Hurdle.
The Unibet Champion Hurdle picture looked a little murky despite showing distinct signs of heating up heading into Christmas and we still have a few confusing trains of thought which will keep punters - and maybe a few high-profile connections - pondering until the final declarations are made for Cheltenham on Tuesday March 11.
Three days on from Constitution Hill’s two and a half-length victory over Lossiemouth in the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle, it was a jaw-dropping performance from the mare Brighterdaysahead that sparked significant reaction in the antepost markets.
Still 20/1 in places for the Champion Hurdle prior to Sunday’s demolition in the Leopardstown Grade 1 now known as the Neville Hotels Hurdle, bookmakers were left with little option but to cut her to a general 4/1 for the highlight on day one of the Cheltenham Festival.
All in spite of Gordon Elliott doubling down pre-race on the notion that it’ll be “the Mares’ Hurdle next” for his horse, and owner Michael O’Leary helpfully claiming in the immediate aftermath that he’d “love to go for the Mares’ Hurdle” before admitting that he would ultimately be overruled by brother Eddie, and Elliott himself.
So, will she even run in the Champion? Little wonder many jumps fans seemed keen on moving the mares-only races from the Festival programme entirely at the time of the latest reshuffle. At least then we’d know for sure.
Several onlookers took to social media demanding "the Mares' Hurdle has to be off the agenda" now for Sunday’s winner but that couldn’t be further from the truth, unfortunately. It doesn't have to be at all. If a Festival winner is the goal and the Mares’ Hurdle is starting to look something of a penalty-kick in six weeks' time, then it will almost certainly be considered a viable alternative.
It felt wise to be wary of all the ‘Miracle Comeback!’ hyperbole surrounding Constitution Hill's Kempton success based on the actual facts and figures, and there has to be a degree of cold water poured on this latest revelation too, seeing as it was 66/1 rag Winter Fog who eventually finished second and State Man looked ill-at-ease from a long way out.
Thirty-length wins in Grade 1 hurdle races are very rare occurrences and we are evidently dealing with a mare of outstanding ability who is improving fast in Brighterdaysahead, but how high can the Timeform team realistically rate the performance, I wonder?
State Man's limp effort, in bidding for his own festive three-peat let’s not forget, was particularly concerning. Barring Galopin Des Champs and Impaire Et Passe (at Limerick), Willie Mullins has had more of a Christmas to forget than is usually the case and it's worth underlining the fact that State Man was backed as if turning the tables on the mare was going to be no more than a formality.
Patrick Mullins had told us to expect a considerable amount of improvement from the comeback run, Ruby Walsh was equally as bullish on Racing TV alongside Gary O’Brien throughout raceday.
In the event, I feared for the chestnut after about two flights. Danny Gilligan and Sam Ewing on King Of Kingsfield and Brighterdaysahead appeared to go out with a plan to rip the finish out of the prolific Leopardstown performer, and he very swiftly looked to have no fight in him whatsoever.
Perhaps something will come to light, which is precisely what Mullins had suggested after Lossiemouth was under pressure from the halfway mark at Kempton too, and there is always more than a modicum of hope when dealing with horses from Closutton hitting their straps at Cheltenham.
State Man is a 10/1 shot to regain his crown from last March, having been pummelled by Constitution Hill on the same stage in 2023, while Lossiemouth is around half that price after it was suggested - not without basis - that she could potentially bridge the gap on slower ground come the spring.
Slower ground come the spring? Top-class mares not going for the top-class mares' races? All quite confusing, as already suggested, but at the end of a dramatic few days we have four fascinating horses who may or may not be in the Champion Hurdle frame, and that's reckoning before we get onto the real curveball Anzadam, more of whom we should be seeing in the non-too-distant future.
Expect the unexpected, it seems that nothing is completely set in stone. Which is how we like it really - it's why they run the races, after all.
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