RACING/Naas Preview: It's just 13 days since Sheltering looked to be out on his feet at Leopardstown, but the country's top hunter gets the chance to bounce back to winning form at Fairyhouse this afternoon.
Sheltering is trying for a third victory in a row in the Hurley River Hunters Chase and will need to achieve it if he is to retain his position as 4 to 1 second favourite for the Foxhunters at Cheltenham.
However, he has rarely had such a challenge in this festival warm-up as he has now.
Joe Blake had a length advantage on the long odds-on favourite a fortnight ago, and looked the likely winner when he tipped up at the last. That put Sheltering back in the lead but the favourite was exhausted and couldn't hold the late challenge of Ten Poundsworth.
Joe Blake is back for another crack but while the going at Fairyhouse is forecast to be soft, it can hardly be as testing as it was at Leopardstown and the better the ground, the better Sheltering usually is.
Nobody will be looking at the result of the handicap hurdle final closer than Christy Roche.
At Navan last Sunday, his top stayer Bannow Bay scraped home by a neck from the novice, Prince Of Tara, who is pulled out again for this race.
Trainer Steve Mahon touted Prince Of Tara as a future Gold Cup winner last weekend, adding that stamina is his greatest quality. The horse has three miles and soft ground and if the extravagant claims are justified, then topweight should not be a problem.
Anyone who watched The Galway Man win at Leopardstown will be eyeing today's bumper very carefully where Whitworth Ben goes again.
This horse put in a remarkable performance at Leopardstown, hanging so badly to the right coming out of the back straight that he was as good as pulled up.
The stands were shocked therefore to see Whitworth Ben finishing like a bullet up the centre of the track and actually get to within 12 lengths of the winner.
Providing the horse can be kept straight today, and the right -handed track can only help, then surely there can be only one winner.
A value bet in the handicap chase could be Gregorio who tackles the longest trip of his career but who did run placed at Auteuil on very soft ground all of three years ago.
While French horses stole the show at Kempton, German filly Eluna took the starring role at Warwick yesterday.
The foreign raider stamped herself a serious contender for the JCB Triumph Hurdle by following up last month's success on her British debut by comfortably defying a 7lb penalty in the Ryton Juvenile Novices' Hurdle.
