'I really wanted to go two miles' - is Sir Gerhard a live Champion Hurdle hope?

Tuesday: 4.15 Punchestown
Bective Stud Champion Novice Hurdle (Grade 1) | 2m½f | 5yo+ | RTE2/RTV

Sir Gerhard is generally an 8-1 shot for next year's Champion Hurdle but that price could shorten considerably were he to run out an emphatic winner on his return to two miles and hand his trainer a record-extending ninth win in the race.

Willie Mullins has won this with subsequent Champion Hurdle winners in the past – Hurricane Fly was successful in 2009 while Faugheen did the business in 2014.

Like Sir Gerhard, Faugheen also won the Ballymore before dropping in trip for this and it is interesting that Mullins is going down this route rather than waiting for the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle over 2m4f on Friday, for which he would have been long odds-on.

Sir Gerhard certainly does not seem to be lacking gears. He clocked a very fast time at the Dublin Racing Festival, quicker than Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle on the same day, and he did so having made multiple jumping errors along the way.

There was no such sloppiness in the jumping department at Cheltenham and, in truth, he was value for more than the winning margin there. That three-and-a-half length victory over Three Stripe Life has been franked since by the runner-up at Aintree.

Sir Gerhard is rated 155 and officially 5lb superior to stablemate Dysart Dynamo, but the tearaway did produce an RPR of 153 when winning the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at this track in January. That was very easy on the eye, but he arrives on the back of a crashing fall in the Supreme when Constitution Hill and Jonbon were on his case.

He will need to do absolutely everything right to repel Sir Gerhard here.

The Supreme seemed to come a little too early in the education of Mighty Potter, and Jack Kennedy quickly accepted the situation, but whether he can take a giant leap forward to beat the Mullins-trained pair is questionable.

Vina Ardanza and Gatsby Grey are outsiders for a reason and their marks of 137 and 135 respectively would suggest they have plenty to find.

Willie Mullins: 'Sir Gerhard has plenty of speed in his pedigree'

Willie Mullins swerved the Supreme with Sir Gerhard and it proved a very shewed move as he ran out a decisive winner of the Ballymore 24 hours after Constitution Hill had broken the clock in the festival opener.

Explaining the decision to return to the minimum trip, Mullins said: "I had it in the back of my mind for a long time that I really wanted to go two miles with Sir Gerhard at Punchestown. We didn't do it at Cheltenham, but I wanted to try it here. He has plenty of speed in his pedigree and this will be a good test to see where we might head with him next year."

Paul Townend has deserted Dysart Dynamo and stayed loyal to Sir Gerhard and the champion jockey is not overly concerned about the extra emphasis on speed, although he does not think his stablemate will be easy to catch.

Townend said: “Sir Gerhard was very impressive winning over two miles at Leopardstown and when showing he stayed well at Cheltenham. I am not worried about coming back to two miles. We will have a very good horse in front of us in Dysart Dynamo so it won’t be easy to try and pass him.

"The track will definitely suit Dysart Dynamo. He is a winner around here and is sure to give us a good gallop. He has schooled fine since his heavy fall at Cheltenham so I don’t think there is a whole lot between my horse and him."

Patrick Mullins: 'I'm looking forward to playing catch me if you can'

Patrick Mullins is certainly not keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to Dysart Dynamo and said he cannot wait to play 'catch me if you can' on the free-going six-year-old.

The champion amateur said: "Myself and Dysart Dynamo teamed up to win at the Punchestown festival last year and I think it is a track that plays to his strengths.

Dysart Dynamo could provide the biggest test to stablemate Sir GerhardCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"The fall at Cheltenham doesn't seem to have done him any harm and he probably would have learned from it. I'm looking forward to playing catch me if you can."

Willie Mullins said things did not work out for Dysart Dynamo at Cheltenham, but feels Punchestown will play more to his strengths.

The trainer said: "Patrick has won two bumpers on him. The horse disappointed at Cheltenham where things didn’t work out for him. He’s in very good form and he likes this track as he had them all under pressure a long way out in his prep race before Cheltenham. He’ll probably ensure there’s a true gallop in this race."

What they say

Oliver McKiernan, trainer of Gatsby Grey
He'll earn his share of the prize money with a clear round and hopefully he can run a nice race. What he did at Naas last time astonished me because I didn't think he'd like the good ground, but it turned out he did. You could argue that race might have fallen apart a little on the day but he's still a nice horse.

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Mighty Potter and Vina Ardanza
Mighty Potter seems to be back in good form, but we haven't done an awful lot with him since Cheltenham. He came back lame. He went very light on us over there and he was put to the pin of his collar after making a mistake in the Supreme. Jack [Kennedy] wisely decided to pull him up then. I've always thought he was a very good horse. Vina Ardanza ran well at Aintree and hopefully he can take another step forward here although it's a hot race.

Tuesday's Punchestown previews:

4.50 Punchestown: In-form Glan poised to bag another big handicap for Elliott, McManus and Walsh

5.25 Punchestown: Paul Townend: 'I had to stick with Energumene, he's a Champion Chase winner'

6.35 Punchestown: 'It's all systems go' - De Bromhead hoping Bob Olinger shines over longer trip

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