Grade 1 winner Irish Point seeks to give Gordon Elliott a fourth Bottlegreen Hurdle in five seasons

Irish Point will seek to give Gordon Elliott a third Grade 3 Bottlegreen Hurdle (formerly Grade 2) on the bounce as the Aintree Grade 1 winner seeks to emulate the likes of Pied Piper, Zanahiyr and Coeur Sublime by landing this 2m1f contest.

The Robcour-owned gelding will likely be a warm order on his first foray into open company after an excellent novice campaign when he was twice runner-up at Grade 1 level before going one better over two and a half miles on his latest start at Aintree when he stormed three and a half lengths clear of Kateira.

The five-year-old handles all types of ground and the trip looks ideal, but he does have to concede 13lb to a smart mare in Magical Zoe. She is already a Grade 3 winner and was an excellent second in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham last season when the race didn't pan out for her. The Henry de Bromhead-trained five-year-old returned with an authoritative success in Listed company at Gowran Park in September when she beat Say Goodbye by four and a quarter lengths.

The Shantou mare handles soft ground well and has race fitness on her side, so she should give Irish Point plenty to think about.

David Garrick finished second in this race last season, beaten three and a quarter lengths by Pied Piper, and has only raced twice on the Flat since. The Eddie and Patrick Harty-trained gelding landed a handicap at the Curragh over 1m2f last month off a mark of 52 and it will be interesting to see how he fares back over hurdles.

Elliott also saddles Media Naranja, a consistent filly who would probably prefer better ground, while the Andy Slattery-trained Sir Allen has been running well on the Flat and has his first start over hurdles since finishing fourth in a Grade 2 at Fairyhouse in April.

What they say

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Irish Point and Media Naranja
Irish Point is only five, so that's why we decided to stay over hurdles. He didn't do much wrong as a novice last season and his best performance was his last one when landing the Grade 1 at Aintree when he was nicely on top at the line. He's been pleasing me over the last few weeks. Media Naranja is a nice filly who will win plenty of races, but this looks a big ask for her.

Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Magical Zoe
She's been in good form since her win at Gowran and seems well in herself.

Eddie Harty, joint-trainer of David Garrick
It was great to see him winning at the Curragh. The ground was probably softer than he would like that day, but it should be nice jumping ground today. He ran a blinder in this race when second last season.

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