Honeysuckle the undoubted headline act at lucrative Dublin Racing Festival

Honeysuckle is set to start at prohibitive odds in her bid to complete a Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle hat-trick at Leopardstown on Sunday.

The unbeaten mare is the headline act for this weekend’s €2.1 million Dublin Racing Festival which features eight Grade One races over two days.

Just a handful of potential opponents are left in against Henry De Bromhead’s star performer after Tuesday’s acceptance stage, one that seemed almost as notable for those absent as those still in the mix.

Another De Bromhead luminary, the reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup hero, Minella Indo, is also on course to line up in Saturday’s Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup.

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He is among a nine-strong entry that also includes the defending champion Kemboy as well as the English star Frodon who was immediately made a 5-2 favourite by the big-race sponsor.

As expected however, the €250,000 feature is skipped by the first and second favourites for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, A Plus Tard and Galvin, as well as the former dual-Gold Cup winner, Al Boum Photo.

The shock King George winner Tornado Flyer was also taken out on Tuesday by Willie Mullins.

He has made no secret of his concerns about ground conditions on Leopardstown’s steeplechase course although the champion trainer did opt to leave his hugely exciting Galopin Des Champs in Sunday’s Ladbrokes Novice Chase.

Another Mullins novice, Sir Gerhard, is among a dozen entries for the Tattersalls Novice Hurdle.

For a variety of reasons though, Irish jump racing’s shop-window event will be without other leading names such as Bob Olinger, Envoi Allen, the leading novices Ginto and Dysart Dynamo, as well as Honeysuckle’s old rival, Sharjah.

Despite Sharjah’s absence, the Willie Mullins team could still pitch a trio of opponents at Honeysuckle when she tries to stretch her unbeaten streak to 14.

Last season’s Cheltenham festival winner Appreciate It may make his first start of the season on Sunday but faces a major task against perhaps the most popular horse in training right now.

Special mare

Rachael Blackmore will again be on board Honeysuckle who won at odds-on in both 2020 and 2021 and could now start the shortest-priced favourite since Faugheen at 30-100 in 2016.

“Honeysuckle is just a special mare – she is above and beyond anything else. She has a massive will to win and has dug deep a few times when she has really had to.

“She is very versatile in a lot of different areas and to be able to adapt as she does to different situations, different races and different tactics makes her a dream ride,” Blackmore said on Tuesday.

“We were really happy with her performance first time out at Fairyhouse [Hatton’s Grace Hurdle] last November. It was a great start to her season. She has a phenomenal record and every day we go out and just try to keep that going,” she added.

Honeysuckle’s appearance alone is likely to attract fans in what will see the return of racegoers to Leopardstown after the easing of pandemic restrictions.

Last year’s festival was run behind closed doors and the impact of the Covid-19 Omicron variant forced Leopardstown into running the recent Christmas action without the general public.

“I’m delighted to see the depth of quality of Irish entries across all races and welcome similarly the UK entries, ensuring highly competitive and compelling fields. It will provide a feast of action for the much-welcomed returning public to the festival,” said Leopardstown’s chief executive Tim Husbands.

Official ground conditions at the Dublin track remain ‘yielding’ and watering will continue this week. There is only a possibility of showers on both Thursday and Saturday night.

As well as Honeysuckle and Minella Indo, the De Bromhead team may also pitch the exciting Journey With Me into Grade One company. He is one of 10 left in the Lacy Solicitors Novice Hurdle which kicks off Saturday’s action.

De Bromhead’s Grand Jury, runner-up to Ginto in a Grade One last month, is also in contention to line up as is Hollow Games who was third in that Naas contest.

In other news, Gordon Elliot and Gigginstown Stud have left their dual-Aintree winner Tiger Roll among 107 entries for this year's Randox Grand National. The 2018 and 2019 winner didn't line up last year due a long-running dispute between owner Michael O'Leary and the British handicapper over the rating given to Tiger Roll.

However the hugely popular horse was left in the world-famous race on Tuesday although his priority remains a potential sixth Cheltenham festival success next month in the Cross Country Chase.