BOTH SECANT Star and Alaivan are on course for a vital Triumph Hurdle trial at Fairyhouse on Saturday as Ireland’s challenge for the juvenile hurdle championship gathers pace.
The Alan King-trained Mille Chief is favourite for the Triumph next month but he is being hounded in the betting by four Irish-trained horses and a good performance by either Secant Star or Alaivan in the Grade Two Winning Fair Hurdle this weekend could see an ante-post shake-up.
Secant Star is currently a 7 to 1 shot with Paddy Power for the Triumph, with Alaivan on 9 to 1, and they look to dominate Saturday’s race after a total of 10 entries were left in the race at yesterday’s forfeit stage. Gordon Elliott’s Carlito Brigante is the shortest priced of the Irish in the Triumph betting and he comprehensively put Alaivan in his place in a Grade Two at Leopardstown over Christmas.
An entry of 15 horses remain in Saturday’s other Grade Two pot, the Attheraces Bobbyjo Chase, and they include Dessie Hughes’s two Aintree Grand National hopes, Vic Venturi and Black Apalachai. Both horses are 20 to 1 shots for Liverpool in April but they could end up facing Jim Dreaper’s Notre Pere who may try to bounce back from a Hennessy defeat behind Joncol last time.
Noel Meade plans to give his Champion Hurdle hope Go Native a pre-Cheltenham spin after racing at Leopardstown on Sunday week as the £1 million (€1.15m) bonus seeker continues his festival build up. With the Fighting Fifth and the Christmas Hurdle already in the bag, Go Native will secure a £1 million Triple Crown bonus if successful in the Champion and what Meade wants now is some decent ground to work on.
“We will probably take him to Leopardstown rather than Navan as the ground would be better there,” Meade said. “When we worked Harchibald at Navan 10 days before the Champion Hurdle he ended up pulling himself up in heavy ground,” added Meade who is hoping for a good pace for his Supreme winner. “If we get there in the same form as last year we will hold on to him longer and the quicker they go, the better.”
