Hello Neighbour

Hello Neighbour

26th-Dec-2024

Willy De Houelle is short again here for the Grade 2 juvenile hurdle, and I am backing Hello Neighbour against him at the price.

We already have Gavin Cromwell’s horse on side for the Triumph Hurdle, and a lot of the reasons for backing him for that race hold true today.  He hasn’t run yet over hurdles, but he has run twice on the flat, and he has been impressive on both occasions.  The three horses who chased him home at Navan in September on his racecourse debut have all won since, and two of them are now rated in the 90s on the flat.

Hello Neighbour is also rated in the 90s, he is rated 97 after winning again at Roscommon in October over an inadequate 10 and a half furlongs.  A mark of 97 is a high flat rating for a juvenile hurdler, especially after just two runs.

He is a half-brother to A Wave Of The Sea, who was a high-class juvenile hurdler himself, and his trainer reports that his schooling has gone well.  He will almost certainly improve for today’s run, and Willy De Houelle and Natrually Nimble both have an experience edge over him, but the fact that he is running here, instead of in the juveniles' maiden hurdle tomorrow, tells you that his trainer is happy to allow him take his chance in a Grade 2 contest on his hurdling debut.  

Willy De Houelle has been backed again, and he might improve for his Irish debut and of the addition of a hood, but I think that he is short again.

HELLO NEIGHBOUR WON (ADV 11/4, SP 9/4)