Three in a row? Joseph O'Brien relies on Home By The Lee to continue his Lismullen Hurdle domination

Joseph O'Brien has landed the last two runnings of the Grade 2 Railway Bar Lismullen Hurdle and hopes will be high the returning Home By The Lee can win again after last season's victory.

He went on to land the Grade 1 Jack de Bromhead Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown before running a commendable race when beaten under four lengths into fifth by Sire Du Berlais in the Stayers' Hurdle.

The eight-year-old made a shattering mistake at the sixth hurdle but did well to recover. However, that effort may have left its mark and he looked out of sorts on his final start at Aintree. If he can continue the progression he showed last season, he rates a live player on his return despite having to concede 9lb to his market rivals.

Last season's champion stayer Sire Du Berlais makes his return for Gordon Elliott after having a marvellous spring last season. The 11-year-old showed himself to be at the height of his powers when charging home to pip stablemate Teahupoo and Dashel Drasher in the Stayers' Hurdle.

He proved that was no fluke by following up at Aintree, despite being outpaced at various stages and being matched at huge in-running prices, but he sprouted wings in the straight to gallop to win decisively by three and a quarter lengths before being narrowly denied his hat-trick at Punchestown.

Despite his heroics last season, he is likely to be vulnerable over this shorter trip, while he also tends to take plenty of runs before reaching peak fitness.

Zanahiyr is likely Elliott's first string as he has the benefit of a run after beating Run For Oscar at Punchestown last month. He performed with plenty of credit last season, finishing third to Constitution Hill twice, and this trip should prove no problem.

Bob Olinger is an intriguing prospect on his return for Henry de Bromhead having not been seen since January. He is a dual Cheltenham Festival winner, although things have not gone to plan since his immensely promising novice hurdle campaign, which culminated in an impressive display in the Ballymore. He finished second to Home By The Lee in this race last season and cannot be dismissed.

What they say

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Sire Du Berlais, Andy Dufresne, Zanahiyr
Zanahiyr is not the easiest to place but two and a half miles around Navan should be ideal for him. I was delighted with the way he won at Punchestown and he should take a nice step forward from that. We hope he has a great chance. Sire Du Berlais is a legend, but it doesn't tend to be until the spring when he comes to life. Whatever it is about March and April, he just seems to come to himself at that time of year and the Stayers' Hurdle will once again be on his agenda. We're trying to get Andy Dufresne's confidence back and there were more encouraging signs at Punchestown last time.

Joseph O'Brien, trainer of Home By The Lee, Busselton
We're hoping for a good run from Home By The Lee. He won this race last year on his second run. This is his first run of the season and he has a penalty but hopefully he can be in the mix. It's a nice starting point for Busselton and we're looking forward to a good season with both of them.

Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Bob Olinger
He ran well in the race last year and we said we'd start him back in a hurdle again. We're as happy as we can be with him, so it would be lovely to get him back on track. We'll see whether we go over hurdles or fences after today, but he's doing everything right at home.

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