HONEY’S LAST HURRAH
Champion will bow out in Mares’ Hurdle at Festival
HONEYSUCKLE’S adoring fans will get the chance to bid farewell to the mighty mare at the Cheltenham Festival.
Henry de Bromhead’s dual champion hurdler is being prepared for one final victory on March 14.
But it is the Mares’ Hurdle, rather than a hat-trick bid in the opening feature contest, that has swayed connections.
Retirement had been mooted for the 16-time winner after she proved no match for State Man at the Dublin Racing Festival.
The run, on the back of her first ever defeat, convinced De Bromhead (above) and owner Kenny Alexander to bypass the Unibet Champion Hurdle – a race she has won for the past two seasons.
Instead, Honeysuckle will bow out against her own sex and she heads William Hill’s ante-post market at 9-4.
Last year’s Mares’ Hurdle heroine Marie’s Rock (3-1) and previous hurdling champion Epatante (7-2) add spice to the line-up. Alexander’s racing manager Peter Molony said: “Honeysuckle still has that competitive spirit, she’s still a racehorse and that’s why we’ve decided to give her one last hurrah.
“She deserves it and
Cheltenham would be a lovely place to bow out.”
Alan King quashed rumours surrounding major Queen Mother Champion Chase fancy Edwardstone yesterday.
Dozens of fans feared the main threat to the Willie Mullins-trained title-holder Energumene was a doubt for the clash.
King stressed Edwardstone’s bruised foot, discovered after his valiant second in the Clarence House Chase, was just a “little niggle” on the route to Prestbury Park.
“We did some x-rays which were all clear and provided there are no further problems then it’s not a concern,” he said.