Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Elliott is targetting hat-trick
THE hurdling debut of four-time bumper winner Fayonagh should prove the highlight of today’s jumps card in Fairyhouse.
Successful on her second start for Richie Rath, the six-year-old went on to score three times for
Gordon Elliott, including Grade 1 victories at the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals.
At Cheltenham, she overcame a tardy start before coming through late to beat Debuchet in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.
And she followed-up when impressing in the Racing Post Champion Flat Race at Punchestown, beating Palome Blue.
Sure to be well-schooled and taking on the boys for her hurdling bow, Fayonagh is impossible to oppose in the Jumps Returns To Fairyhouse Maiden Hurdle.
Elliott should also be on the mark with classy chasing debutante Shattered Love in the mares beginners chase while his Tombstone might prove too strong for the experienced Bamako Moriviere (fell when clear at the last in Listowel) in the opener.
Meanwhile, in Limerick, the lightly-raced Zawraq should be capable of landing the listed Martin Molony Stakes for Dermot Weld and Pat Smullen.
This five-year-old has raced only once in each of his four seasons of racing, winning a Leopardstown maiden as a juvenile before landing a Guineas trial on the same track on his only three-year-old start (beating subsequent Irish Guineas runner-up Endess Drama).
Runner-up to Flying Fairies in the Trigo at Leopardstown in October, his only outing at four, Zawraq ran a cracker on his recent return at Listowel, when a strong-finishing second to River Light in a nine-furlong listed event.
Zawraq tackles a mile and a half for the first time and sets the standard on a card which might also see the Weld/smullen partnership strike with Sorelle Delle Rose in the Irish Racing Calendar 2018 Race.