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Previews12 January 2025

Can Supreme favourite Salvator Mundi follow in the footsteps of Douvan and Vautour in Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle?

It has been a while, 242 days to be exact. In the middle of May, when City Of Troy was a busted flush after flopping in the 2,000 Guineas and Man City were still unbeatable, Salvator Mundi strolled around Tipperary in his own time and came home 62 lengths in front of anything else. 

He was quoted at 20-1 for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle immediately afterwards and, despite the fact we haven't seen him since, he is now no bigger than 6-1 for the festival opener and will surely shorten further should be make a winning comeback from an eight-month break. 

This, of course, is where Willie Mullins tends to flex his muscles with his novice hurdlers. He has won it ten times and among those ten are Mikael D'Haguenet (2009), Vautour (2014), Douvan (2015), Min (2016) and Impaire Et Passe (2023). 

Vautour and Douvan were fighting it out for favouritism for the Supreme after they won this race and went on to oblige in March, but Salvator Mundi is already at the top of the market. 

Last year it was Mystical Power who couldn't quite complete the double. He surged clear to win by seven lengths in this Grade 2 on the way to finishing runner-up to Slade Steel in the Supreme, and there will be some long faces if Salvator Mundi can't continue the Closutton domination in 2025. 

Kel Histoire: unbeaten stablemate of Salvator Mundi
Kel Histoire: unbeaten stablemate of Salvator MundiCredit: David Keane

The form of his sole start in France has worked out spectacularly well. He was second to Sir Gino at Auteuil, beaten only a length and three-quarters when in the care of David Cottin, and that is the best piece of form by a quite considerable margin. 

Mullins has opted for a tongue-strap and a hood for Salvator Mundi's return, which will worry some, but it's worth noting he wore both in the Triumph Hurdle when sixth to Majborough. He was probably too immature for that test, so it will be interesting to see how he fares back in this sort of company. 

Stablemate Kel Histoire is unbeaten. He was an emphatic winner of a maiden hurdle at Cork last time, but was given an RPR of only 119 for that, 16lb short of what Salvator Mundi received for his Tipperary stroll in May, and his big market rival that day, Kilgame, ran no sort of race on that occasion, so he may not have beaten much. He was quite impressive, all the same.

Sky Lord could be the most interesting of all. It was surprising to see him priced at 13-2 originally as his Cork win seemed to have substance to it. He looked smart there and could be a major player here. Don't underestimate him. 

Gordon Elliott, who last won this race in 2020 with Andy Dufresne, relies on Relieved Of Duties. He took a big step forward at Cork last month, having lost two weeks earlier at Thurles by a nose to Artic Lane, who reopposes, and posted an RPR of 128. Any further improvement on that would put him in the mix. 

The race revolves around Salvator Mundi, but at around 13-2 perhaps Sky Lord is the value option against the red-hot odds-on favourite. 

One thing is for sure, the Supreme market will look very different just after 2.30pm no matter what happens. 


What they say 

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Relieved Of Duties
He got his act together to win at Cork and I actually thought he was quite impressive there. He seemed to take a big jump forward from what he showed at Thurles and we think he's improving all the time. It's a really good race, but hopefully he can be competitive and stay on an upward curve.

Paul Townend, rider of Salvator Mundi
It's great to have him back. I have to say he gave me a lovely feel when he won at Tipperary and I've been looking forward to getting back on board him since then. The experience of running in the Triumph Hurdle last season will stand him in good stead and I think he has learned a lot from that. He seems to be in good form at home and we're hoping for the best.

Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Sky Lord
We think he's a nice horse and he won nicely at Cork. He's been in good form since and this will probably tell us where we stand with him as it looks quite a hot race. Our guy is a lovely horse, though.


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