ELIMAY AND MOUNT IDA PRIMED FOR FAIRYHOUSE CLASH —
ELIMAY and Mount Ida are set to engage in an intriguing clash for the BoyleSports App Mares Chase at Fairyhouse this afternoon.
The Willie Mullins-trained Elimay was considered one of the bankers of the week at Cheltenham when contesting the inaugural Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase, but came off second-best after a titanic tussle with stablemate Colreevy.
Denise Foster’s Mount Ida, meanwhile, did claim Festival glory – coming from a seemingly impossible position to win the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup.
Elimay is one of two runners for JP McManus in Saturday’s Listed contest, along with Demi Plie from Padraig Roche’s yard.
The leading owner’s racing manager, Frank Berry, said of Elimay: ‘She had a tough race in Cheltenham – but Willie seems happy with her. It looks a competitive race. Mount Ida was very good at the Festival and will take a lot of beating.’
Henry de Bromhead’s pair of Abbey Magic and Zarkareva complete the line-up. The most valuable race on the opening afternoon of the Easter Festival is the €80,000 RYBO Handicap Hurdle.
A 20-strong field is headed by Thosedaysaregone, with Foster’s Eclair De Beaufeu next in the list.
Mullins has claimed five of the last eight renewals of the lucrative contest and this year saddles five runners in Foveros, Uradel, Ruaille Buaille, Hybery and Robinnia.
The McManus silks are carried by Foster’s Magic Tricks and Hearts Are Trumps.
McManus also has a top contender for the €50,000 Novice Handicap Hurdle Series Final in Capodanno. Since arriving from France, the Manduro gelding has run three times for Mullins – winning at Clonmel as well as being placed twice.
At Cork, Princess Zoe makes her seasonal reappearance in the Noblesse Stakes. Having been rated as low as 64 when she joined Tony Mullins from Germany, the grey mare made rapid progress through the handicap ranks, winning five races – including the Group One Prix du Cadran.
She signed off for the season with a fourth-place finish behind Mark Johnston’s Subjectivist in the Prix Royal-Oak. But Mullins is keen to see in the early weeks of the season if she has the required pace for the top races over a mile-and-a-half, with the dream being a run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
‘The plan is to get two runs into her in April while there’s a cut in the ground, and then we’ll plan the rest of the season after that,’ he said.
‘I’m keen to go back over a mile and a half with her. People think she is a dour stayer but she’ll be as effective over that trip. She’s won over a mile and a half twice at Galway and slow horses don’t do that. It’s anxious times for us – we’re not used to this.’