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Elliott: Sutton Place should stay the trip and be hard to beat

Sutton Place: looks a fine prospect for chasing next season
Sutton Place: heads Gordon Elliott's team of five in the Grade 2 Hurdle at FairyhouseCredit: Patrick McCann

Ladbrokes Ireland Boyne Hurdle (Grade 2) | 2m5f, 5yo+ | ATR

It is not inconceivable Sutton Place could come in for Stan James Champion Hurdle consideration, but you would think JP McManus's six-year-old would need to win this convincingly to be in the frame for a supplementary entry, were any of the owner's big guns to suffer mishap before the big day.

Gordon Elliott has always thought a lot of Sutton Place and he went some way to confirming his trainer's belief when slamming a decent field on his reappearance run at Naas last month.

He had been ante-post favourite for the Betfair Hurdle but ultimately connections decided he lacked the experience for the Newbury hurly-burly.

Renneti and Thomas Hobson represent champion trainer Willie Mullins and Rich Ricci, whose pink and green army could do with a change in luck following a spell of misfortune.

Jessica Harrington is also doubly represented by Supasundae and Ttebbob, while the Mouse Morris-trained Milsean sports first-time cheekpieces.


What they say

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Sutton Place, De Plotting Shed and Taglietelle
It’s the first time Sutton Place has tackled this trip but he's in very good form and we’re looking forward to running him. We think he'll stay. He was very good on his seasonal debut at Naas and we'll get this out of the way before making any plans. He should be hard to beat. De Plotting Shed ran well in the Galmoy Hurdle, while Taglietelle will need to show a little bit of his old spark to figure.

Willie Mullins, trainer of Renneti and Thomas Hobson
Sutton Place, who was impressive at Naas last time, will probably be hard to beat but our two will be aided by the step up in trip. It hasn't been easy to find suitable opportunities for them but Renneti ran well at Navan when second to Jezki last time over two miles so we're looking forward to a good run from him. Ruby [Walsh] chooses him over Thomas Hobson, who wasn't beaten far in a big handicap hurdle at Leopardstown on his seasonal debut last month.

Jessica Harrington, trainer of Supasundae and Ttebbob
The step back up in trip will suit Supasundae as the race at Naas over two miles was probably a little bit short for him last time. He's been in terrific form since and I feel he's improved. He's won over two miles four at Punchestown two starts back so I'm hoping for a similar display. Ttebbob ran a hugely encouraging race at Naas behind Sutton Place last time to finish third. That was his best run in a long time and he finished his race nicely. We seem to be getting him back to form.

Bryan Cooper, rider of Dedigout
It wouldn't surprise me if one or two of the young guns were too strong for him but he'll like the ground.

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