THE phrase `horses for courses' may have been abused into cliche but if ever a horse has been qualified to revitalise it, then it is surely Opera Hat who goes for her ninth win around the Naas track in tomorrow's Abbey Bridge Handicap Chase.
It's an astonishing record for the course specialist but any fanciful notions about his horse relishing the Naas air more than anywhere else are dismissed by Opera Hat's trainer John Fowler. "I've never found anything special about if myself," he grinned yesterday before pointing to the geography of the track as the real reason for Opera Hat's astonishing success rate there.
"A left handed track suits her but she's also run at Naas more often than anywhere else. She's won three at Navan, too, but there aren't enough suitable races for her there," Fowler added.
Appropriately, Opera Hat has had her last two races at the course, running a good third to Tryfirion over hurdles two weeks ago before which she had run the likes of Merry Gale and Royal Mountbrowne into the ground over fences in February.
That race was over two miles and although Opera Hat took this race last year as part of her remarkable sequence, the suspicion remains that three miles stretches her stamina to the limit. Fowler though is confident that the trip will not be a problem.
"She doesn't get three miles in top company but she should against Sunday's company," Fowler said. The best of the others could be Monday's Limerick flop Indestructable but Opera Hat looks a good bet to make it nine.
In contrast to Opera Hat, the Michael O'Brien-trained Dovaly has his first look at the Co Kildare track but it would be unwise toe dismiss this Lycius colt from calculations for the Naas Hurdle.
Formerly owned by Khaled Abdullah and trained in Newmarket by Henry Cecil, Dovaly had three runs last year, beating one time Derby favourite Sacho on his debut at the Craven meeting and ending in disappointment when tailed off at Leicester in October.
His only other run was when fourth to Mystic Knight in the Lingfield Derby Trial so it's clear Dovaly possesses his share of natural talent.
What he doesn't possess yet is hurdling experience which should allow Red Tonic the edge on this occasion. John Mulddon's horse beat the highly-touted Shahrur at Listowel on the start of the month and can reverse previous Gowran form with Keal Ryan.
There are no unknown quantities among the hardy regulars that make up the Foran Equine Products Handicap Hurdle but while saying that, it could be advisable to keep on the right side of what looks the most progressive horse in the race, Valley Erne.
Michael Cunningham's six-year-old beat Good Glow by only three parts of a length at Punchestown in January but two weeks later, on worse terms, he stretched that margin over Good Glow to eight lengths and did it with ease.
Valley Erne might prefer a little more give in the ground tomorrow but with Blushing Sand likely to want further, Good Glow already beaten twice and Ciara's Prince a disappointment at Limerick on Monday, he does look the best solution.
Fishin JoelIa is another who likes the ground soft but while it may not be ideal for her in the Dawn Farms Hurdle, she should still justify the nap. The impressive last time out Super Dealer should be even more inconvenienced by the ground drying out and Liver Bird, although possessed of a big home reputation, hasn't exactly set the jumping world on fire yet.
