'The phoney war is over... our best novice hurdlers and chasers get to take each other on'

Joseph O’Brien, still basking in the glory of training the Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling will be more than an interested spectator at Fairyhouse this weekend. His unbeaten pair of Le Richebourg and Early Doors are likely to take each other on in the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle on Sunday.

Le Richebourg has not been seen since extending his winning run over hurdles to three with a commanding display at the Galway festival in July, but Sunday’s race will provide an altogether different test of the four-year-old’s credentials, according to the Racing Post.

"This will be a different test to running around during the summer, as it's a very good race and he has to handle winter ground as well.”

As with Le Richebourg, O'Brien's other entry, Early Doors, carries the green and gold of JP McManus and has yet to taste defeat since embarking on his hurdling career at Wexford in October.

Meanwhile, Patrick Mullins is looking forward to Sunday's Hatton's Grace day at Fairyhouse and he said, "I really look forward to it, as it’s a bit like the phoney war is over and it’s the first time this season that our best novice hurdlers and chasers get to take each other on."

He’s right and while there has been plenty said over the last while about the fact that the bigger yards and owners are getting bigger, there is an upside to that.
No one wants to see the small trainer and owner being pushed out of the game and that debate is for another day, but in my lifetime, I have never seen so many good horses in the country.
It wasn’t that long ago that our best young horses were sold to race in England and we’d come back from Cheltenham year after year with our tail between our legs lamenting the fact that we couldn’t compete.
Now the roles have been reversed and there are six or seven very big owners who are prepared to spend huge sums of money to keep our best young horses at home.
To give you an example just how strong the game is, last month on a Wednesday afternoon at Punchestown, no fewer than five Grade 1 winners ran on a midweek fixture and four of them ran in a Grade 3 chase that day.
This weekend, Fairyhouse stages its mid-season winter festival and Saturday’s card tends to be well above average.
The track hosts three Grade 1s on Sunday and Gordon Elliott holds a strong hand in all three races and plans to run Mengli Khan in the Bar One Racing Royal Bond Novice Hurdle.

The four-year-old is a cracking specimen and comes into the race as a second season novice. He failed to win over hurdles last season, but has since won twice over timber, both at Navan and he looks an exciting prospect.
He won as he liked in a Grade 3 earlier this month and he along with Samcro head the markets for the two and two mile and five novice hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival.
It looked significant that Elliott went back to Navan last Sunday with Samcro and he was very impressive.
I think he’d have been hard to beat had Elliott opted to run him in the Royal Bond, but the trainer wants to separate his best horses as much as he can at this stage of the season.
Dangers to Mengli Khan include the unbeaten Red Jack which is well regarded by Noel Meade. He won his maiden hurdle at Naas and he looks a real contender on Sunday.
It is not clear yet what Willie Mullins will run and it is worth bearing in mind that he has won the last three runnings of this race.
Apples Jade will probably start favourite to record back-to-back victories in the Hattons Grace Hurdle and I was very impressed with her when she beat Jers Girl in the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan.
She is a two and a half mile specialist and she will be hard to beat, but again Willie Mullins has plenty of options here including last year’s runner up Vroum Vroum Mag and Nichols Canyon.
Jessica Harrington won the Hattons Grace in 2013 with Jezki, and this year, she will rely on Supasundae which developed into a Grade 1 horse last season and he could play a major role.

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The Drinmore has developed into terrific race over the last 10 years and Jessies Dream credited Elliott with his first Grade 1 success, with victory in this race in 2010.
He could be mob handed in this year’s renewal and Death Duty looks his number one contender. The six-year-old won a Grade 1 over hurdles at Naas earlier this year and was a banker for many at Cheltenham, but was a beaten horse when he unseated Bryan Cooper at the last in the Albert Bartlett.
He is two from two over fences and looks a much better horse this season. He won first time out over fences at Tipperary and put in a much improved performance the last day at Punchestown and he has the size and scope to make into a very useful chaser.
Sunday will be his first real test over fences and Elliott also plans to run the mare Dinaria Des Obeaux.