Racing:This afternoon's meeting at Fairyhouse goes ahead after the track passed an 8am inspection. Officials had been concerned by the prospect of rain and snow overnight but they have assessed conditions and given the meeting the thumbs up.
Horse Racing Ireland tweeted: “Fairyhouse will go ahead today as scheduled, ground remains heavy and forecast unsettled.”
Last year’s gallant Aintree National third Seabass returns to action for just his second ever start over hurdles in what looks an intriguing opening race at Fairyhouse.
Future big race hints won’t be confined to Seabass and a return to Liverpool as Dermot Weld’s high-class flat racer Rock Critic also has a second outing over flights and Willie Mullins pitches in Make Your Mark who can trump the pair of them.
Make Your Mark hasn’t been seen since finishing seventh to Simonsig in the Neptune at Cheltenham last March and prior to that was a fine third to his stable companion Boston Bob in a Grade Two.
He remains an entry in the World Hurdle at Cheltenham and although absent for 11 months, the Mullins team will surely have him sharp enough for this.
Rock Critic won his sole start over hurdles to date at Galway during the summer and still holds a Supreme entry at Cheltenham. He remains a 100 plus rated operator on the flat but will hardly relish these very testing conditions.
As for Seabass it is nearly six years since his only previous hurdles start and this will surely be a tune-up for a return to fences. “The distance is obviously a bit short, but it’s a nice race to start him off in and we’ll see what happens,” his trainer Ted Walsh said yesterday. “He’s as forward as you’d want him for his first run.”