Air Of Entitlement
Air Of Entitlement took her Cheltenham Festival record to two from two when she won the finale, the Martin Pipe Hurdle. Setting off in the front rank and then settled back by Paddy O'Brien just behind the leaders, she did everything easily through the race. Her jumping was good and she was able to retain her position easily, along the inside and just behind the leaders. Her rider didn't panic when they moved up on her outside at the top of the hill, she got shuffled back to seventh or eighth place, but she didn't lose any ground on the leaders. Still only sixth as they rounded the home turn, she picked up well off the home turn. She moved into second place behind new leader Hot Fuss on the run to the last and, while she didn't meet that on a stride, she was quickly away from it on the landing side, and she stayed on strongly up the run-in to win by nearly three lengths.
Henry de Bromhead's mare was a game winner of the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at last year's Cheltenham Festival under Rachael Blackmore. The two-mile trip of that race was shorter than ideal for her, she was much better-suited by the two and a half miles of the Martin Pipe Hurdle, and she left the impression that even this distance, in a race that was run at a moderate pace, wasn't a stiff enough test for her. She was well positioned, given that the pace was not strong, as evidenced by a finishing speed of 108% of overall speed, but she would surely have been seen to better effect off a stronger pace. She was fastest of all through the final four furlongs.
She hadn't had a smooth season up to that point this season, but she had only run twice, and this was much more like it. The Irish handicapper has given her a new rating of 144 on the back of this performance, 5lb higher than the British mark off which she won here, and that was more than fair. She will be interesting in another handicap off that mark, and there could be more to come from her in the longer term. She will be of interest again at next year's Cheltenham Festival, all going well, in whichever race she lines up, and, a point-to-point winner who is out of a half-sister to Irish National winner Rogue Angel, she could improve again for a step up in trip.
Cheltenham, 13th March 2026
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