World Hurdle Betting Guide

"I don't know what we'll do with Aitmatov just yet. I shall discuss it with the owner and it's a possibility that he might yet run in the three-miler. Nothing's been decided for him though. He might not go to Cheltenham at all so we'll just see what happens."

“I was hoping Mr Johnson's gallops had been as snowed up as he said they were! It was a seriously good run by Blazing Bailey and he won't be out again until March. Whether he can beat Inglis Drever again, I don't know. As you saw there he's a hard horse to beat on his day.”

"That was good. I didn't think he would be sharp enough over two and a half miles, and I thought that he would be third or fourth, so I'm delighted. The plan had always been to go for the Long Walk Hurdle, but I wasn't happy with the ground at Ascot, so I didn't even declare him. It will be the Cleeve Hurdle next and then the World. This shows that they can come back after running badly."

"Has done very well over the summer, looking a lot stronger, as he's entitled to being only five. He was ready to run at Wetherby nine days ago, but I couldn't risk him on that ground. He'll be entered in a 3m2f handicap at Cheltenham this weekend, and if he misses that, the three-miler at Newbury on Hennessy day would be the next option. Then it'll be a similar campaign to last season, ending up in the World Hurdle again. Despite the stats being all against him at Cheltenham last season, he still put up a very good performance - I still thought he could nearly win turning in. With further improvement he'll be right up there in March. Although he acts on any going, he's particularly effective on soft."

"The Champion Hurdle is the aim with Ebaziyan. He gets two and a half miles, so we put him in the World Hurdle as an option. But I am assuming he will get better ground at Cheltenham than he has been running on so far this season, and he certainly came right in March last year. He had to run in those races to gain experience. He just hasn't been able to go on the heavy ground we have been getting here. He'll run at Leopardstown next Sunday but I wouldn't be too worried about that either."

“He pulled muscles when we schooled him over fences and although we gave him a break, he went lame again when we brought him back. So we decided to leave him a bit longer this time and I’ve just made an entry for him in the World Hurdle. If we have a good run with him now, we’ll have one run a couple of weeks before Cheltenham and he’ll take his chance. He was rated 160 last season and he looks better this year which is the most annoying part. He’s a good horse on good ground but he’s very good on heavy so we’ll see how it goes.”

"We've had a hold-up with him, he's pulled some muscles around his pelvis about a fortnight ago. He's on the easy list for a month. Hopefully he'll be back but we've put chasing on hold for another year and he'll go back into some staying hurdles. We hope to have him back around February time, he's on the walker and still doing a bit. He's a good horse so what we don't want to do is miss the whole season. The World Hurdle could be an aim - if he can have a run beforehand that would be ideal."

"I discussed it with the owner yesterday after he did a bit of work after racing at Leopardstown and we decided we'd let him take his chance in the stayers' (World Hurdle). The Champion looked another option at the time, but he can't be as quick as he used to be so this one should just suit him better."

"He couldn't be better, he's in great form. He's come out of the AIG first class. I have thought about it (Champion) but I'll have to see what lines up. It's nice to have the two options. We'll see how Henry De Bromhead's horse is and if he arrives there. If he didn't, we'd go back to the Champion where we know what he's done before. If Sizing Europe did line-up, we'd more than likely switch and try our fella over the three miles. He hasn't lost it yet. Maybe he'll deteriorate after this year but he seems to be holding his own still."

"After that performance you'd have to think he could beat those horses around Cheltenham. Two miles on the inside track here suited the winner more than our horse. We will wait and see how he comes out of the race but there might be a change of plan and he could miss the AIG and go to Gowran Park for the Red Mills Trial Hurdle in February instead. The two-mile or three-mile option for Cheltenham is still open to him."

"If I could ride the race again I would have sat closer to the winner but on a first try I had to be conservative and ride him to get the trip. We gave Lough Derg too much leeway but I expected him to come back to me a bit more. I thought he got the trip anyway."

"The World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival - rather than the Champion Hurdle - will be the main aim for Hardy."

“We will see what he is like for next month, but if we can keep him like that ticking over at home he should be all right and we can see if we can do the three-timer. We've been held up pretty badly but luckily enough the other day he went down to another gallop I've got. It just started to snow when we got there and by the time we finished the gallop, the gallop was covered. We couldn't do anymore but I knew then he was right. He'd worked great. We did no more after that. He had one swim last Sunday morning. We only did four laps because he is not a very good swimmer. He sinks a bit. We did four and left him under the lights for an hour. He'd be the weakest swimmer I have got in the yard and then he wins races like that.”

“He's a funny sort of horse. He's on and off the bridle, but he does grab it and get going again. I was a bit anxious, but to be fair to him when you get stuck into him, coming down the hill he gets going. He stays very well and he's a very good horse. At times in the race he wasn't really giving me a great feel but he was in the right place at the right time.”

"He'll have a quiet campaign and he'll only run in the Cleeve Hurdle before the Festival. We won't try to win the Order of Merit with him, we'll just try to win the World Hurdle."

“I was worried about the ground still, I thought it would be a bit sticky for him, but this was the last hope to have this sort of ground before Cheltenham so I put him in the race but I wasn't expecting him to run so well today. I thought this race would bring him on for the World Hurdle. He is not yet as good as Baracouda but we will try our best. It is difficult to replace Baracouda but this horse is coming up and is still very young. We were mystified why Kasbah Bliss ran so poorly in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot – you could not blame the ground as it was not that soft, and the subsequent blood tests revealed nothing abnormal. But we needed to give the horse another run before Cheltenham to dispel our fears, and he won very well. We bred Kasbah Bliss ourselves, so we know his strengths, and the drying ground definitely helped. I backed him for Cheltenham two months ago, so I hope we get similar conditions at the festival.”

"We were delighted with him. He's fine. He took it very well. He ate everything up last night and seems in good order. I think we'll be letting him take his chance at Cheltenham. I know it's a big step up but we'll go there. The only thing that might stop us would be fast ground. I think yesterday was probably his best performance. The cheekpieces seem to have sharpened him up. Barry (Geraghty) suggested them after he rode him in Gowran the last day and felt he might benefit from it. It was something I'd been mulling over myself I suppose, I just needed a push and when Barry suggested it I had no problem and we stuck them on at home first. It's not that he's ungenuine, it's just that concentration is a bit of a problem with him and they seemed to focus his mind on the job in hand. He travelled and jumped much better and he showed he's not just a slogger and that he can pick it up when he needs to. He quickened up really nicely yesterday. The cheekpieces definitely won't be going off now. I don't the trip will be an issue to him. I'd say if anything it will probably suit him better. The three miles will be right up his street and he won't have any problem coming up the hill. He really grinds it out when he has to and I don't see the trip being a problem."

"He is a very special horse and he has as big a heart as any I've ridden. All he ever wants to do is battle, please you and give you more. He was flat out there against some very, very good horses, but he is so gutsy and never gave up. You just keep pushing and kicking him and he keeps finding. He really is a special little fellow."

"He's been in very good form all season and he's only run one bad race - he got tired at Haydock after travelling well. In the King George he just never travelled but that is the only time he has ever let me down. He seems very well and he goes to Fontwell two weeks on Sunday for the National Spirit. I think his ideal trip is probably two and a half miles or two-six. We know he stays further because he has won a World Hurdle and a Long Walk, but he is classy enough to go back to two (miles)."

“He worked very well at home on Saturday morning and goes for the National Spirit next. If he runs well there, I’ll be pushing for the World Hurdle.”

"That was all right, but the race came a bit quick after last weekend. He is best fresh and I would have preferred a three-week gap but there was nowhere else to go as the handicapper put him up to 159. We will probably look at the Long Walk Hurdle now and he will have to go to the World Hurdle at Cheltenham, although Aintree might suit him better."

"He's fine at the minute but he didn't run in the Cleeve on Saturday because the ground was quite soft and it was a hard race, we didn't want him to have a really hard race just before the Festival. The way it panned out as well, with Inglis Drever winning as he did, it would have been just what we didn't want. But make no mistake, Inglis Drever is a fabulous horse and it will be very hard to beat him. If we can find a race for him that fits in nicely he might run, but he is just as likely to go there without another run."

"Did us proud last season and won the Brit Insurance Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. He stays over hurdles and the plan will be to go the World Hurdle route, but the race planners do not make it easy for staying hurdlers as there are so few options for them at this time of the season. We have pencilled in the Relkeel Hurdle, at Cheltenham's December meeting, as his likely first outing."