'The conditions of the race suit' - how will the Champion Hurdle fourth fare?

Thursday: 6.10 Tipperary
Kevin McManus Bookmaker Grimes Hurdle (Grade 3) | 2m | 4yo+ | RTV

A summer sizzler in store as Saint Roi, fourth in the Champion Hurdle and whose last seven appearances were all at Grade 1 level, seeks his first success since October 2020 and brings a touch of class to the contest.

The 2020 County Hurdle winner may not have scaled the heights expected since providing Barry Geraghty with his final Cheltenham Festival winner but he has bumped into Honeysuckle on four of his last five starts and there is nothing of her calibre in this Grade 3.

Saint Roi is rated 155, 2lb superior to Darasso, but the conditions of the race means he receives 9lb from that rival. He gets weight from Sole Pretender too despite the fact he is officially the best horse in the race.

He is a course and distance winner too having landed the Grade 3 Horse & Jockey Hurdle at the track so the seven-year-old certainly ticks a lot of boxes.

It looks a shrewd piece of placing by Willie Mullins, who has won five of the last eight runnings, most recently with subsequent Galway Hurdle winner Aramon in 2020.

Perhaps Saint Roi's biggest danger is his stablemate Shewearsitwell.

She took a heavy fall when surrendering her unbeaten record at Leopardstown over Christmas but she was not disgraced in the Grade 1 mares' hurdle at Punchestown and had a nice confidence booster when scoring at Killarney last month.

We may not have not seen the best of her yet and her best ever display, according to RPRs, came at this venue in 2020 when easily landing a Grade 3 novice hurdle.

Last year's winner Sole Pretender is back from a successful stint over fences to defend his crown, but giving so much weight away to Saint Roi and Shewearsitwell will not be easy.

The ultra-consistent Darasso looks the pick of a five-strong challenge from the Joseph O'Brien stable, while Felix Desjy represents Gordon Elliott and is having his first outing since getting back to winning ways in a competitive handicap hurdle at Punchestown in April.

What they say

Joseph O'Brien, trainer of Darasso, A Wave Of The Sea, Early Doors, Lunar Display and Celestial Horizon
Darasso is in good shape at home and the course and distance should suit him well. He never lets us down so hopefully that's the case again here. Celestial Horizon has trained well in the lead up to this race. Early Doors is training nicely and we're hoping he can run a good race. Lunar Display has got plenty of black type already and we're going in search of some more. A Wave Of The Sea is having his first run after a little break and we're hoping he can collect some prize-money.

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Felix Desjy
It was great to see him get his head in front again at Punchestown and he's a talented horse on his day.

Willie Mullins, trainer of Saint Roi and Shewearsitwell
Saint Roi had a little break after Punchestown but came back in with a view to getting him ready for this race. The track suits him and the conditions of the race are in his favour as well so we're hoping for a big run. Shewearsitwell is a young mare and unexposed and there is hopefully some more improvement to come from her.

Norman Lee, trainer of Sole Pretender
It's a hot race this year and we're very wrong at the weights with Saint Roi. We're going to run him in a chase in Galway but it's a month away so we said we'd slot this race in as he's in great form at home.

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