All eyes will be on Brighterdaysahead when she kicks off her campaign in the Bottlegreen Hurdle at Down Royal on Friday.
The Gordon Elliott-trained mare, who is owned by Gigginstown House Stud, has an almost flawless record from the bumper and novice hurdling phases of her career.
Unbeaten in National Hunt Flat races, she embarked on a novice hurdling campaign last season and was beaten only once in five outings.
That defeat came at the Cheltenham Festival in the Ryanair Mares’ Novice Hurdle when Jeremy Scott’s Golden Ace got the better of her by a length and three-quarters, but Brighterdaysahead regained the winning thread next time out in the Grade One Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.
A novice chasing career was considered rather than a season in the open hurdling division, but ultimately connections chose to plump for the latter and her term gets under way at Grade Three level.
“She’s been very well, we’ll start off and hopefully she’s lucky,” said Gigginstown’s Eddie O’Leary. “We think she’s a very good mare, we’re ready to start with her and hope she runs well. We’ll not think beyond tomorrow, we’ve got to get that out of the way and hope she stays lucky. It will be one step at a time.”
Also involved are stablemate King Of Kingsfield and Willie Mullins’ Daddy Long legs, with Andrew Slattery’s Smooth Tom, Michael Millar’s Breagagh and Peter Fahey’s Miss Fourie the others in contention.
On the same card there is further Grade Three action in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Feathard Lady Mares Novice Hurdle, in which Elliott runs Speculatrix and Henry de Bromhead is represented by Mystical Goddess.
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