News: Hardy Eustace, last year's Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle hero, is set to return to Cheltenham on Saturday for the £50,000 Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle. The seven-year-old is one of 14 high-class entries for the extended 2½m event.
The Dessie Hughes-trained gelding was last of seven behind Golden Cross in the December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas, and his handler says there were reasons for his defeat. "He has come out of Leopardstown very well and we think he is back to his best," said Hughes. "I wasn't disappointed with that run as that inside track at Leopardstown is very sharp and we needed to get a run into him."
Hardy Eustace has been entered for both the Smurfit Champion Hurdle (48 entries announced yesterday) and the bonusprint.com Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March, with the latter his intended aim.
"Hardy Eustace will have another run in Ireland before the Festival and then the Stayers' Hurdle will be the target," Hughes added.
Simon Claisse, Cheltenham's clerk of the course, reported the going at Cheltenham yesterday as "good, good to soft in places". The current weather forecast is for a mild week with some rain, which may amount in total to 10 millimetres before racing.
