Dorans Weir is heading to the Dublin Racing Festival after her gallant run in defeat at Leopardstown last week.
The six-year-old has run three times to date, finishing fifth on her debut over hurdles at Thurles in November before returning to the same track the following month to claim a three-and-a-quarter-length success in a bumper.
At Leopardstown the mare was pitched against geldings for the first time and was beaten by just three-quarters of a length when second to Willie Mullins’ The Nice Guy.
Another Leopardstown run is now on the agenda in the Grade Two mares’ bumper on February 6th.
“She’ll go to the Dublin Racing Festival for the mares’ bumper next,” said trainer Michael Hourigan. “She was a shade unlucky the last day but that’s racing.
“That’s the plan with her at the moment anyhow, to go to back to Leopardstown.
“The Dublin Festival will tell us an awful lot about her, she has improved from her win to the other day and she was just a shade unlucky to be beaten, but that’s race riding.”
Dorans Weir runs in the same Tom Doran silks as Dorans Pride, a hugely popular horse trained by Hourigan to 29 victories including the Cheltenham Festival Stayers’ Hurdle, the Hattons Grace, the Kerry National and four successive Clonmel Oil Chases.
Stable stars
“They don’t come along very often, Dorans Prides don’t,” the trainer said of one of his all-time stable stars.
Meanwhile, Andrew Lynch is aiming Ben Dundee at the Cheltenham Festival following his narrow defeat in the valuable Paddy Power Handicap Chase at Leopardstown.
The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase and the National Hunt Challenge Cup Chase are the races the Co Meath trainer will choose from in March. Lynch will not run Ben Dundee over fences before then, but may give him a prep outing over hurdles.
“He’ll go to Cheltenham for one of those amateur races,” he said. “He jumps fences better than he jumps hurdles. I don’t know why, but he does. “We might give him a run in a hurdle race over here first just to sharpen him up. I’m not sure yet which race we’re going to go for.”
Lynch was delighted with Ben Dundee’s effort at Leopardstown, despite the agony of seeing his 33-1 shot lead over the final fence only to be caught close home and go down by half a length to School Boy Hours in the 28-runner contest over an extended three miles.
“It was great, but a pity he just didn’t last out those last few strides,” he added. “We were really happy with him and he nearly got there. He’s come out of it well.”
