Triumph Hurdle hero Quilixios out to earn spot in Champion Hurdle line-up

Saturday: 2.20 Gowran Park
Red Mills Trial Hurdle (Grade 3) | 2m | 4yo+ | RTV

This has not had a huge bearing on the Champion Hurdle in the last decade, apart from maybe Jezki being a beaten odds-on favourite in 2017, but this year's renewal looks red-hot with last season's Triumph Hurdle winner taking on the Galway Hurdle hero.

Neither of those top the market, though. That honour goes to Teahupoo. The five-year-old has only been beaten once and that arrived on yielding ground at Fairyhouse last Easter when Jeff Kidder caught him on the hop. That was yielding ground, but he has looked much more at home on a softer surface.

Quilixios looked sure to have his measure in a Grade 2 at Limerick over Christmas, scooting a few lengths clear in between the final two flights and hitting a low of 1.05 on the exchanges in-running. But, he still couldn't fend off a renewed effort from Teahupoo after the last.

There was half-a-length between the pair there, much closer than the 12 lengths between them at Naas in November, and Quilixios certainly seems to be warming up as the season goes on.

His Triumph Hurdle win has worked out really well with Adagio (second), Haut En Couleurs (third), Zanahiyr (fourth) and Tritonic (fifth) all giving the form a boost this season. He just hasn't looked the same horse since for whatever reason.

It is worth noting Quilixios is Pricewise's ante-post pick for the Champion Hurdle and he is now only 14-1 with Paddy Power to topple stablemate Honeysuckle. Victory here and he might well be single figures.

Saldier has gone off the boil of late. Having won the Galway Hurdle off top-weight and followed up in a Grade 3 at Tipperary, he has found the going very tough in Grade 1s over 2m4f and 3m. Can the return to 2m and the fitting of blinkers bring about a revival? I'm not so sure, especially on this sort of ground.

Darasso won this in 2019 and comes into the contest on the back of bursting the bubble of Saint Felicien at Naas. He is versatile and more than capable of picking up scraps. Ignore him at your peril.

This could boil down to another showdown between Teahupoo and Quilixios and the Gordon Elliott-trained five-year-old is fancied to make the score 3-0.

Triumph Hurdle hero 'working really well' says De Bromhead

When Quilixios fended off the likes of Adagio and Zanahiyr to take the 2021 Triumph Hurdle and keep Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead riding the crest of a wave, he already looked a leading player for the 2022 Champion Hurdle.

Things haven't panned out the way we expected since then and defeats have followed at Punchestown, Naas and Limerick, but he looked to be on the way back to form last time when just touched off by Teahupoo and De Bromhead has issued an upbeat bulletin on his well-being.

The trainer said: "We were delighted to see him run so well at Limerick. He put his Naas run behind him, having just not been right that day. He's in great form and working really well."

What they say

Joseph O'Brien, trainer of Darasso
He's in good nick. He won the race a few years ago and he’s been holding his form well this season. He handles soft ground and he’s a good, solid horse. Hopefully he runs his race again but it's a very hot race.

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Teahupoo, Felix Desjy and The Tide Turns
Teahupoo is in good form and this is the natural progression into senior company for him. He did it well at Limerick over Christmas on very testing ground and we couldn’t have been happier with that. This race should give us a good guide as to what direction we take for major spring festivals. Felix Desjy is a good horse when he's on a going day, while The Tide Turns has taken really nicely to hurdling.

Patrick Mullins, assistant trainer of Saldier
On ratings, he should be involved but I just wonder if he would like nicer ground. We’d be more hopeful than confident going into the race with him because of that. But if he were to handle it, he should be competitive.

Read more previews:

1.50 Ascot: National Hunt Chase credentials on the line as Does He Know bids for Grade 2 win

2.05 Haydock: Olly Murphy 'can't be sure' if well-fancied Thomas Darby will handle the ground

2.25 Ascot: 'He could be a bit better than a handicapper' - can Fiddlerontheroof come good?

2.40 Haydock: Well-treated Sam Brown near-perfect at Haydock and has more improvement in him

3.20 Wincanton: 'Lots of people have doubted him, but I haven't. I know he's a good horse'

3.30 Gowran Park: Melon might never get a better chance to add another win to his impressive CV

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