'She isn't as straight as other years' - is the hat-trick-seeking Elimay vulnerable this time?

Elimay is chasing a hat-trick in this Listed event but she arrives on the back of an interrupted preparation and Willie Mullins has said she is not as straight as she was in previous years.

She was 2-13 when scoring last year in a poor five-runner race, but there is a growing suspicion she needs further than two miles these days and she could get tapped for toe. She certainly needed every yard of the two miles, four furlongs and 127 yards to win the Mares' Chase at last year's festival under an inspired Mark Walsh ride.

A lethargic effort on her comeback at Clonmel in November combined with a setback means Elimay is definitely worth taking on here and perhaps Magic Daze is the solution.

It was surprising to see her the biggest price of the three genuine contenders as she comes into the contest on the back of a cracking effort in a hot handicap chase at Fairyhouse in December. She is an out-and-out two-miler with a rating of 145 who is hard to catch when on song – and this could be one of those days.

Dinoblue likes to get on with things as well so the first mile of this is going to be interesting. She is not one-dimensional, though, and it would come as no surprise to see Luke Dempsey take a lead this time. If Magic Daze and Dinoblue take each other on, they could set it up for Elimay so I don't envisage Dempsey becoming embroiled in a battle for early supremacy.

The 130-rated Minx Tiara is a talented mare and she has had her wind done since we saw her last. She is another who has won from the front in the past but Sean Flanagan might be shrewd here and ride her to get home. She ideally wants further too.

Mullins has won six of the last seven runnings of this but, while he might have the top two in the market, Magic Daze might end the sequence by making all under Rachael Blackmore.

What they say

Willie Mullins, trainer of Elimay and Dinoblue 
Elimay has won this race for the last two years but she isn't as straight for this year's race as she was for those. She had a small setback which held us up. She likes the track, though, so you never know. Dinoblue will like the trip, although this can often be a tough assignment for a novice. We have won it with novices in the past, though, so it can be done and she seems to be in good form.

Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Magic Daze 
She ran really well the last day at Fairyhouse and has been in good form since. This looked a nice race for her.

David O'Brien, trainer of Minx Tiara 
We cauterised her palate after her run at Fairyhouse last time. She stopped very quickly there and JJ [Slevin] said she was travelling well and then just died a death after the second-last. It seems to have done the trick in her work at home anyway so hopefully she will bring that to the track. I'd be delighted if she were placed.

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