Quartet with Grade 1 potential emerge in battle of the big two
The last Sunday before Christmas saw a number of smart performances at Navan and Thurles that marked another chapter in the main narrative of the Irish season, the battle for supremacy between the Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott teams.
The final score on the day was 5-2 in favour of Elliott. Mullins suffered a couple of reverses, including the fall of the long odds-on Asthuria in a Grade 3 mares' novice hurdle at Thurles, thus gifted to Elliott's Shattered Love.
With the meetings taking place only eight days before the start of the Christmas festival fixtures at Leopardstown and Limerick, one might have anticipated at least some hint the big players were keeping their powder dry.
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