Sharjah

29th-Dec-2020

The preamble to this race has centred around the re-match between Saint Roi and Abacadabras, and it may well play out like that.  Of the pair, I prefer Saint Roi, but I think that the market has the two of them further ahead of the established hurdlers than they should be.

Saldier was tempting, but I think that Sharjah is the value of the race.  Willie Mullins’ horse is a top class hurdler.  He has won the last two renewals of this race, and he would have won the Grade 1 novices’ hurdle at this meeting in 2017 had he not come down at the final flight. 

He proved that he could operate away from Leopardstown with a really good run in the Champion Hurdle in March, coming from the rear and keeping on well to take second place behind Epatante, but he should be even happier back at Leopardstown.  He hasn’t run over hurdles since the Champion Hurdle, but he ran twice on the flat during the summer, and you can be sure that this race has been his target for a while.  And Patrick Mullins gets on really well with him.

SHARJAH WON (ADV 13/2, SP 11/2)