Tuesday’s Fairyhouse programme sees Henry de Bromhead’s Cheltenham Festival heroine Air Of Entitlement return to action.
Air Of Entitlement landed the Mares novice event at the festival last March under an inspired spin from the now retired Rachael Blackmore, getting up in the final strides to edge out Sixandahalf.
Air Of Entitlement failed to follow up in Grade One company at Fairyhouse’s Easter festival behind Aurora Vega and faces a task on ratings up against four geldings in Tuesday’s conditions contest.
Darragh O’Keeffe, fresh from his Grade One victory on Envoi Allen at Down Royal on Saturday, teams up with the Robcour-owned mare for the first time. She is already as low as 14/1 to dethrone Lossiemouth in the Cheltenham Festival’s Mares Hurdle in March.
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In the concluding three-mile handicap hurdle another one returning to action is Ney who could be up to exploiting an attractive looking mark over flights.
The father-son team of Edward and Kieran Buckley combined to land a Beginners Chase with Ney at Fairyhouse last January and the horse followed up in good style at Naas a month later.
Currently rated 123 over fences, a 109 mark to Tuesday’s race looks exploitable for a horse that could remain unbeaten for his current connections if sharp enough on his comeback.
Gordon Elliott’s Kish Bank won his only point to point start in impressive fashion and can kick off his career over fences with success in the Fairyhouse opener.
In other news, quick ground conditions have forced the Cheltenham authorities to reschedule the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase due to be run later this month.
A dry summer saw resources focused on providing safe ground for the track at Cheltenham’s opening meeting of the season last month. It has left the going on the cross-country course currently firm. Forecast rain is not expected to be enough to achieve safe ground and the race has been moved to January’s ‘Festival Trials’ programme.
“Given the exceptionally dry summer, our priority had to be ensuring the Old course was ready for October’s meeting. We had hoped to turn our attention to the cross-country course once rainfall arrived, but with limited rain to date our focus must remain on maintaining safe, consistent ground on the Old course ahead of the November Meeting.
“The forecast suggests we will not receive the volume of rain required to bring the cross-country course to a safe standard so we have taken the decision early to allow participants to adjust their plans and allow us to confirm an appropriate replacement race,” clerk of the course Jon Pullin said.
