Macs Joy, favourite for the AIG Europe Irish Champion Hurdle, continues to give all the right signals ahead of Sunday's big race, which could yet be run on ground better than the current description of "soft". Leopardstown's racing manager, Tom Burke, yesterday reported a "light sprinkling of snow" at the track which quickly disappeared in the morning.
"It's very hard to be precise, but it's supposed to get very windy for the next few days and then frosty over the weekend. That should help us and there must be a reasonable chance of the ground improving," he said.
That will be good news for the Harchibald camp, and for Dessie Hughes, who is also waiting until closer to the weekend before deciding if Hardy Eustace will take his chance in the AIG.
"We've had snow on the Curragh and it's bottomless ground here. If it's anything like that at Leopardstown he won't run because I don't want to subject him to a hard race. It all depends on the ground. If it's soft, that would be okay, but I'll take a look at it myself later in the week," Hughes said yesterday.
Hardy Eustace was third in the Bewleys Hotel Hurdle over Christmas, and as well as the champion hurdler Brave Inca, Solerina and Georges Girl will also be trying to reverse that form and also that of the winner, Macs Joy.
However, the latter is doing nothing but pleasing his connections in the run-up to the weekend.
"We were supposed to work at the Curragh this morning but we couldn't because of snow, so Barry (Geraghty) rode him here instead. He went very well, he looks very well and Barry was very pleased with him," said Jessica Harrington.
"I just hope everything goes well between now and the race. I'm looking for things that can go wrong, like asking will he operate on heavy ground and being told he's won on it. He did it well at Christmas and we just have to get him there," she added.
Bookmaker reaction to yesterday's forfeit stage was to leave Macs Joy unchanged at 2 to 1 favourite, with Brave Inca at 11 to 4 and Harchibald, who is ante-post favourite for Cheltenham, at 100 to 30. Eight horses remain in the race, but the English entry, Royal Shakespeare, is unlikely to travel.
The AIG will be run on a course eight yards wider than the controversial inside track over which Macs Joy won at Christmas, but his rivals are playing down that significance.
"It's still two miles and I don't even know if it really is that tight on the inside," said Brave Inca's trainer, Colm Murphy.
"I suppose it will help us a bit because our horse likes a galloping track, but I don't know how much. Still, it won't be against him."
Brave Inca did a light canter yesterday with a strong gallop at the weekend, having completed the serious preparation for his third start of the season.
"He is better in himself than he has been all season. He's getting there. We would like the ground a bit better, but we have to get a run into him before Cheltenham," Murphy added.
Harrington dismissed the track issue, saying "two miles is two miles", and Dessie Hughes said he is unconcerned about which course the race is run on.
"I want to get a run into Hardy Eustace, but he is a Cheltenham horse, a spring horse, so we won't see the best of him for another month or six weeks," he said.
Royal Shakespeare is all but certain to miss out on the AIG, with trainer Steve Gollings hoping instead to run at Haydock on Saturday.
"We left him in Ireland just in case anything goes wrong and I would say he is almost certain not to go there," he said.
"The plan has always been to run at Haydock, but we are quite concerned about the heavy ground there."
Last year's winner, Foreman, has been taken out of the AIG and could instead run in the Baileys Arkle Trophy now that Like-A-Butterfly, also owned by JP McManus, has been taken out of the race.
Eleven horses remain in that Grade One contest, and they include Ned Kelly and the impressive Scarthy Lad.
This afternoon's re-scheduled Navan card got the go-ahead after a morning inspection, which should be good news for the high-class flat horse High Priestess.
Michael O'Brien's mare tries to break her duck over flights in the opening maiden hurdle, and although heavy ground will not be ideal she does have the assistance of the in-form Ruby Walsh.
An interesting opponent, however, is the ex-Dermot Weld trained Tiger Royal, who will find this a lot different to sprinting up the Curragh.
Patsy Hall ran into the highly-rated Corrigeenroe on his debut at Leopardstown, but there should be considerable improvement for that run from Steve Mahon's horse in the bumper.
BETTING (Paddy Power): 2 Macs Joy, 11-4 Brave Inca, 100-30 Harchibald, 5 Hardy Eustace, 11-2 Solerina, 7 Accordion Etoile, 10 Georges Girl, 16 Royal Shakespeare.
