Celestial Halo eying success in French Champion Hurdle – Horseracing news
Celestial Halo has set his sights on the French Champion Hurdle, which is going to be held in June 2013. He recently recorded the biggest ever success of his career by claiming the Prix La Barka in France.
Although the seasoned stallion was not rated as the favourite to prevail in that event, he took advantage of the soft ground and caused an upset in the end. The most impressive thing was his stamina, which helped him to be competitive over two miles and
five furlongs.
His trainer Paul Nicholls was hopeful that longer races would be ideal for the Irish challenger. Therefore, he has decided to opt for the French Champion Hurdle, which is a three-mile encounter.
According to the veteran trainer, “The ground, trip it looked at ideal race for him. He stayed well and it augurs well for the race there in three weeks' time. I think it will be fine. I think the three miles will suit him and be better for him and we're
really looking forward to that because it's a big prize.”
Celestial Halo is a veteran of 38 races and he has managed to win 10 of them until now. Moreover, he has finished as a runner up on nine times whereas secured the third place on five occasions.
It seems that he will be representing his team most of the times this year, especially because of the absence of stable mate Big Buck’s, who has not been seen in action for quite some time now.
However, Nicholls is hopeful that his veteran challenger will be back soon. He stated, “Touch wood Big Buck's will be back to is best next year. That's a long way off. We'll start Celestial off in the race at Newbury that Big Buck's always used to win on
Hennessy weekend [the Long Distance Hurdle] then go for the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.”
Overall, Big Buck’s has got a very good winning percentage, so his fans would want to see him in action as soon as possible. He has appeared in a total of 38 events, winning 23 of them. It will be interesting to see whether he manages to continue delivering
consistent results after making a comeback.
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