Supreme Novices Update: Royal Bond Novice Hurdle (grade 1) review

On Sunday we witnessed the strongest race meeting of the season so far at Fairyhouse. Three grade 1s, a grade 3 juvenile hurdle, two intriguing handicaps and a highly competitive bumper; this was a day where the emphasis was firmly on quality over quantity. Unfortunately, due to the injudicious carving up of Newbury’s, once great, showpiece card, the same could not be said for Hennessy Gold Cup day.

To no one’s surprise, Willie Mullins dominated the racing at Fairyhouse winning two of the grade 1s and the bumper with an exciting recruit, Outlander. The only grade 1 that eluded him was the first, the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, a race he took last year with the ill-fated Sous Les Cieux. After Ruby Walsh had ridden his second grade 1 winner, on Zaidpour, he was interviewed about his successful day and, notably, he suggested that prior to the racing he felt his best chance of a winner was Champagne Fever. This was understandable as he was the shortest price of Walsh’s three rides (the only favourite amongst them) and he had been last season’s best bumper horse in Britain and Ireland. When he won the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, under Patrick Mullins, he had also comfortably accounted for Sunday’s main rival, Jezki. The only real concern for Ruby Walsh and the connections of Champagne Fever was the trip. This gangly grey son of Stowaway was never going to be a Supreme Novices Hurdle horse, he won his Champion bumper through stamina and guts, and nothing about him suggested he would be at his best at two miles over hurdles. What he had shown was class and a high cruising speed, so it was hoped that on the soft ground he could get away with it. Champagne Fever is a relentless galloper but he lacks a turn of foot and that proved crucial in Sunday’s outcome.

Ruby Walsh set off in front on Champagne Fever, the same tactics had been employed on each of his four previous (winning) starts including his hurdling debut over two miles at Cork, and he took the small field along at a reasonable pace, clearly intent on avoiding a sprint to the line. Champagne travelled comfortably in front for much of the way, jumping with exuberance, looking every inch the chaser he promises to be. As Ruby Walsh tried to increase the pace, however, his jumping started to falter, Mullins had suggested he might be ‘a bit novicey’ having only had one run over obstacles, and while he was trying to stretch the field he was hampered by slow leaps at the last three hurdles. Walsh kept asking his mount for more and more effort and Champagne Fever kept finding as he always had done in the past, but at the second last Jezki was still, seemingly, cruising on the bridle with Geraghty just biding his time. As the pair crossed the last in front, Geraghty played his hand, drawing clear of Champagne Fever who had no answer to the change of pace. To his credit he kept battling to the line and was giving the winner three pounds but on this evidence it is difficult to envisage a scenario where Champagne Fever could reverse the form with Jezki at two miles over hurdles, barring heavy ground bordering on unraceable.

There were excuses for Champagne Fever’s defeat put up by Willie Mullins, including the track at Fairyhouse being difficult for front-runners and this was relatively close to his hurdling debut, yet it is hard to watch the race and draw any conclusion other than he needs further to be seen at his best (preferably over fences but that will have to wait, sadly). As someone who holds Champagne Fever in the highest regard, I was disappointed to see him beaten at Fairyhouse. Immediately after the race I struggled to believe that was as good as he is, I felt it was possibly a flat performance and the presence of Zuzka just a length behind confirmed this for me. On reflection this theory was short-sighted and underestimates Jezki who had looked so impressive over hurdles up to this point. Champagne Fever had his own way in front and he wasn’t pressed for the lead, but as the pace quickened his jumping suffered suggesting at a two mile pace his hurdling is not quite quick enough. He did manage to see off almost the entire field before the last but as he maintained his impressive, if not spectacular pace, Jezki, who had looked a speed horse his entire career, accelerated in the fashion of a real Supreme Novice.

Jezki, for trainer Jessica Harrington, had looked a high class novice hurdler already this season. There was a doubt about the worth of the form of his last run, where powered to victory on the bridle, until the second, Un Beau Matin, beat a decent field, including dual Royal Ascot winner Simenon, comfortably on his next start. That in isolation, then, was quite a performance from this four-year-old son of Milan, but he received a further boost when Ally Cascade, second to Jezki on their hurdling debuts, came out and beat a well touted Mullins runner in a maiden hurdle on Friday. Ally Cascade succumbed to Jezki’s turn of foot, much in the way Champagne Fever did.

Barry Geraghty settled Jezki on the inside from the off on Sunday. There was no sign of him being keen with Geraghty happy to be left in fourth upon jumping the first, no more than four lengths off the primary target Champagne Fever. There was, though, cause for concern at the second flight as Geraghty pulled his mount out to get a better view of the hurdle and Jezki jumped left over it losing ground on those ahead. He did the same at the third, this time looking even more awkward before a mistake at the fourth. His natural pace was enough to maintain the desired position but once again he jumped left at the fifth and he even jumped the last two flights slightly left. His jumping, therefore, was far from accomplished. Had Champagne Fever taken the last three flights fluently Jezki may have been in trouble, but while this display leaves a doubt in the back of one’s mind, I would not be overly concerned as this was his first run right-handed. Back on a left-handed course we will surely see significant improvement and this must make his performance more meritorious as he was able to win a grade 1, defeating a strong field in the process, despite jumping left nearly throughout.

Connections of Jezki have made clear their expectation that he would be even more impressive on better ground despite three convincing victories in testing conditions. Thus, his ideal race would be on a left-handed course on good or good to soft ground, the circumstances he would likely face in the Supreme. His form was already solid enough to be considered a top novice prospect, but in defeating Champagne Fever he has shown form that will be hard to match in the two mile novice hurdling division, especially as Willie Mullins’ charge will no doubt run over further from now on. After the race most bookmakers cut Jezki into 10/1 favourite for the Supreme Novices Hurdle, Ladbrokes were on their own in offering 14/1 which was a crazy price on the back of that performance. I would have him no bigger than 8/1 favourite for the Festival curtain raiser and any bookmaker offering double figures, most of them still are, is being generous. There will have to be some special performances in the next few months, from the likes of Waaheb and My Tent Or Yours, to shift him from his position at the head of the market.

For those against Jezki there is one run to cling to from his career so far, his only run at Cheltenham. He finished eighth in the Champion Bumper, nearly twelve lengths behind Champagne Fever, but he shaped well there, just lacking for stamina. He is also improving with experience and as a four-year-old he must be strengthening up all the time. That run would be of little concern to me, particularly as he did seem to handle the track and it was a very similar run in the race to that of last season’s Supreme winner Cinders And Ashes. Winners of that Champion Bumper have a poor record in the Supreme as it generally requires a different type of horse to win each race, the bumper is often a test of stamina where as the Supreme is more a test of speed, a test Jezki will excel at.

Of those in behind Jezki and Champagne Fever on Sunday, Zuzka evidently shaped the best finishing just a length behind her stablemate in third. She stayed on well at the finish, having travelled up to the leaders two out, just lacking the class of the front two. She can only find weaker races than this and will take some beating next time out, and there is no reason to think that she won’t handle a step up in trip. A horse who needs a step up in trip is Minsk who finished a respectable fourth. Very useful on the flat, he was a talking horse last year, but on his hurdling debut failed to deliver and then missed the rest of the season. He came back over hurdles last month with a dominant display over two-and-a-half-miles and it was assumed a drop back in trip would not bother him. In fact, he simply lacked the speed to stay in the race from two out and his trainer, Dessie Hughes, has already stated that his next target will be back over further. Some distance adrift of the first four was Clonbanan Lad. He does not appear up to this level and it may be the case that he needs the heavy ground. 

Supreme Novices 2013 update: Waaheb, Sizing Rio & Pique Sous

The last week has seen a number of prospective Cheltenham bound novice hurdlers deliver credible performances. While in this country we’ve been light on potential Supreme Novice Hurdlers, Ireland has thrown up a few.

The highly anticipated hurdling debut of the top class bumper horse Waaheb came last Tuesday and he displayed all the attributes which made him such a potent force in National Hunt flat races. In January 2011 he won his first bumper, in February his second and in April his third. On each occasion he won easily marking him out as Ireland’s best prospect in that sphere and it was almost inevitable that, having previously been owned by trainer Dermot Weld’s son, he would be purchased by JP McManus. In his colours he stepped up in class, skipping the likely stamina test of the Cheltenham’s Champion Bumper, and took in in the Punchestown Festival’s Champion I.N.H Flat Race. Waaheb was sent off the 15/8 favourite and up until that point he had been vastly superior to those he had faced, but this time he met his match in Lovethehigherlaw, who was Willie Mullins’s best bumper horse that season. At the end of an epic battle up Punchestown’s home straight Willie Mullins son of Presenting ultimately outstayed Dermot Weld’s charge. The untimely demise of Lovethehigherlaw robbed him of a bright future over obstacles and it was left to Waaheb give us a sense of what might have been.

Almost immediately after the race Waaheb was made favourite, in most antepost lists, for the 2012 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, remaining in that position until it was sadly confirmed that injury had ruled him out for the season. Seemingly unconcerned by his injury bookmakers once again put him in as antepost favourite, before he jumped a hurdle in public, for the 2013 version. Waaheb’s latent talent was there for all to see in bumpers, the question was whether he could carry over this talent to the hurdling game. The signs from his seasonal reappearance at Fairyhouse are generally good.

Having settled well in last place for Mark Walsh he took on the first flight and, almost certainly due to his inexperience, he dived at it. This was, in reality, of little concern and somewhat in response to that he ballooned the second. After these early sighters he jumped efficiently, only jumping left when forced to by Coldstonesober, never losing ground on the leaders. Unsurprisingly for a horse that showed so much class in bumpers, Waaheb travelled strongly throughout and as he picked off his opponents one by one there was never a question who the winner would be. As he approached the last, upsides a couple of others, it seemed a comfortable victory was on the cards. Following a decent final jump, he was shaken up and put in a burst of acceleration taking him away from the field posting an even more impressive performance than looked likely, winning by six-and-a-half lengths. This performance showed that his injury and time off has not dented his pace, pace that many of his subsequent rivals will lack. He jumped well enough for a debut and there is little doubt that he will improve significantly from this race. Whether he will show his true ability when stepped up in grade later in the season on heavy ground is up for debate. What is not up for debate is that he is a novice hurdler with abundant promise, and with the anticipated progress from his debut he is one to be feared by all.

Just one race before Waaheb’s hurdling debut was a maiden hurdle restricted to four-year-olds and it is possible we saw another Supreme contender in that contest. This was a performance that has gone under the radar due to its proximity to Waaheb’s comeback, but it was no less impressive.

Sizing Rio began his career winning a point-to-point at Bennettsbridge by three lengths. It is difficult to know what he achieved there but, interestingly, in third that day was Clondaw Kaempfer who went on to win a valuable and competitive Fairyhouse bumper before moving to Donald McCain, for whom he won a novices’ hurdle impressively on Sunday.

On his first run under rules for Henry De Bromhead and the Potts Family, Sizing Rio disappointed. He was fancied to run well in a good four-year-old bumper at the Punchestown festival but he weakened tamely. It was assumed that back over obstacles he would be a different proposition and this was the case. He started second favourite behind Noel Meade’s Cops And Robbers. Cops And Robbers had been useful on the flat for Sir Michael Stoute (sold for £125,000) and had shaped well on his hurdling debut in Grade 3 so this was no easy task.

Positioned in second for most of the race, Sizing Rio jumped quickly and accurately, his technique improving as the race progressed. He was tracked throughout by major market rival Cops And Robbers and once tearaway leader Strategic Bid fell by the wayside it looked as if this son of Heron Island might have severe competition from Noel Meade’s charge. However, it soon became apparent that Sizing Rio was maintaining his advantage over Cops And Robbers and the race was put beyond doubt as he quickened around the home turn while the runner-up was struggling to keep him in sight. The final winning distance was eighteen lengths and there was a further eighteen back to the third. It may be argued that the form is weak but before the race Cops And Robbers was thought of as good hurdling prospect and I have no reason to doubt that, especially when one considers the fact that he has already won since, at Wexford on Sunday. There are few better in Ireland at producing Cheltenham horses than Henry De Bromhead and in Sizing Rio, who barely came off the bridle to achieve this demolition, jumping with alacrity and showing no lack of pace, he could have another one.

At the end of the last National Hunt season Pique Sous would have been at the forefront of many people’s minds when considering candidates for next (now this) season’s Supreme Novices. After a promising run on debut, in the valuable sales bumper at Fairyhouse, in April 2011 he was not seen out again until February of this year at Leopardstown. At Leopardstown he won impressively, displaying a turn of foot rarely seen in Irish bumpers. He then went to the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, supposedly, as Mullins’ best chance in the race. While he cantered all over his stablemate and resulting winner Champagne Fever, he was just outstayed and could manage only third. Mullins was keen to get more experience into him and therefore ran him three more times in National Hunt flat races during the summer, winning twice, before commencing his hurdling campaign at Cork in late August.

There was little doubt beforehand that Pique Sous would win on his hurdling debut and he was sent off at 1/3 but racing is, of course, never that simple and he failed to hold off Ted Dolly losing out by 2¾ lengths. He was far too free on that day pulling hard, giving himself little chance to finish strongly. Some suggested it was his jumping that let him down on this occasion and to a small extent I agree. It was deliberate at times, early on, but it was not causing him to lose ground. The crucial error came at the fourth last, where he severely pecked on landing, but this was mainly due to a horse in front jumping across him leaving unsighted. This clearly worried the son of Martaline as he ploughed through the next hurdle before his jockey, Emmet Mullins, finally let him stride on and he jumped the last beautifully. Unfortunately for connections, he just had nothing left to fend off the fast finishing winner.

On Wednesday, Pique Sous came out again at Thurles and connections were hoping he could redeem himself. The major concern from his hurdling debut was his keenness and to counter this, a change of tactics was employed by Ruby Walsh. Willie Mullins’ five-year-old was always likely to benefit from his hurdling bow, but setting off in front definitely made a difference. Pique Sous largely had an uncontested lead at Thurles and until a mistake at the fourth last he held a 3 or length cushion allowing him to settle in front. He was still keen enough through the race, although not to the extent of his previous racecourse experience, but despite the one aforementioned blunder he jumped noticeably well, thereby forcing his opposition to put in the extra effort which ultimately told. Rounding the final bend the field were closer than at any point during the race yet this time Pique Sous was able to pull away from his pursuers, posting a five length victory in the process.

Willie Mullins pointed out after the race that his is a horse that needs decent ground and he may be aimed at the Open Meeting at Cheltenham in November. This will be a real test for him as he will find it tougher to make all, if these are the tactics they employ again, and if he runs too free again the higher class of opposition, along with the stiff Cheltenham finish, could find him out. If Pique Sous does learn to settle though, and allows himself to be dropped in and ridden for the speed he showed in bumpers, he will be a force to be reckoned with. I do not share the concerns of many about his jumping, as it looks to me like the faster they go the better he jumps, and there aren’t too many slow Supremes.