Could the £100,000 bonus be on? Emmet Mullins bids for second Morebattle Hurdle with favourite Vischio

It doesn’t seem as long as four years ago that The Shunter landed a mighty punt for the Emmet Mullins team in this valuable handicap hurdle before scooping the £100,000 bonus when he followed up in the Plate at the Cheltenham Festival.

Many punters certainly remember the smooth manner in which that plot was executed, Alain Cawley bringing the 5-2 favourite home a length and a quarter clear of Night Edition.

Bookmakers have taken no chances this week with the Mullins-trained Vischio, who has won her last two handicaps at Punchestown and Leopardstown in highly impressive fashion.

A considerable rise in the weights has proved an inevitable consequence, but this eight-year-old mare, winner of a 1m4f Listed race on the Flat at the Curragh in 2023, looks in the form of her life at present.

She has three potential engagements at the Cheltenham Festival – the Coral Cup, County Hurdle and Martin Pipe – and is no bigger than 16-1 for any of them.

The £100,000 bonus is available again if the winner of the Morebattle goes on to land a race at the Cheltenham Festival, but Vischio is far from the only runner who could potentially be targeted at the additional payday.

Richards takes aim with Florida Dreams

The Nicky Richards yard has a long and illustrious history with Kelso’s Morebattle Hurdle.

Nicky’s father Gordon won it four times between 1990 and 1993 courtesy of Kelso legend Jinxy Jack, and the Greystoke stable also plundered the prize via Duke Of Navan in 2013 and Glingerburn two years later.

Four-time scorer Florida Dreams has dropped to his last winning mark and will appreciate the drying ground. His Scottish owner Jimmy Fyffe won the race two years ago with Benson, so it is clear the race means a lot to all concerned.

Richards said: “Florida Dreams hasn’t run a bad race all season and has been a bit unlucky here and there. He made a bad mistake two out last time at Musselburgh and I think he would definitely have been in the first three if he had jumped it cleanly.”

Florida Dreams had Cracking Rhapsody, winner of this race 12 months ago, five places behind him in tenth when finishing fifth in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in November.

“He ran a good race in the Greatwood and I’d expect him to be in the mix at Kelso,” Richards said. “It’s a tough race, but we’ve had our eye on it for a while.

“Florida Dreams is owned by a Scotsman and this is one of the biggest races in the calendar in Scotland.”

Jinxy Jack will always have a place in Richards’ heart. “Jinxy could rattle round there,” the trainer recalled. “It’s a race we know how to win and we’ll give it a good old whirl with Florida Dreams.”

What they say

Alan King, trainer of Favour And Fortune
He can race off the same mark as he did when finishing a good fourth in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Newbury, where he was giving the winner 17lb on ground softer than he prefers. We saw at Ayr last April how effective he is on a better surface so, provided the rain stays away, I hope he’ll be in the mix again.

AJ O’Neill, joint-trainer of Tellherthename and Wilful
Tellherthename is in good form. He’s been lightly raced this season and hasn’t been out since the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle in November. He’ll like the better ground at Kelso. Wilful has also been in good form at home and I was happy with the way he ran at Ascot last time.

Olly Murphy, trainer of Alnilam
He’s in very good form and we’ve trained him for the race. If he gets into a proper rhythm I could see him running well as he’s an improving type who stays very well.

Jamie Snowden, trainer of Milldam
We’ve been targeting this race all along, but he ideally wants soft ground. He’s in great form and has won four of his last six. He’s a lovely horse. It’s just a shame that the rain seems to have hit everywhere bar Kelso this week.

Neil Mulholland, trainer of Petrol Head
He’s been schooling well and going well at home. Kelso is a similar track to Bellewstown, where he won last summer, so this looked a good place to run him.

Harry Derham, trainer of Slugger
He’s gone up 18lb since we got him and a mark of 130 is an unknown. He has improved throughout the season and we’ve trained him for this race since his last win at Musselburgh on January 1. I hope the ground keeps drying out. It’s a significant step up in class, but he’s in great form.

Harry Derham: has made an eyecatching start as a trainer

Harry Derham: runs Slugger, who is 3-3 since joining the yardCredit: Edward Whitaker

Josh Guerriero, joint-trainer of Gentleman Bill
Going back to two miles will be good for him as he didn't quite finish like we thought he would at Catterick. A stiff two miles will be perfect and he looks a big price. He's progressive and should go well.

Nick Alexander, trainer of Ginger Mail
He was second in the race last year. You can put a line through his last run; his race was ruined by a bad mistake at the third-last. This is a very competitive race, but hopefully he might surprise us again.

Dan Skelton, trainer of Rock House
It's very competitive, but he ran well last time and the drying conditions will suit him. We're under no illusions how difficult this will be, but hopefully he can go and acquit himself well.

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