Overturn and Hurricane Fly in contention for the Grade 1 Rabobank Champion Hurdle at Punchestown
Overturn, trained by Donald McCain, is all set to land a victory in the Grade 1 Rabobank Champion Hurdle at Punchestown on 27th April, 2012.
After finishing as a runner-up in the Grade 1 Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy in the Cheltenham Festival, he is determined to land this race.
The son of Barathea, out of Kristal Bridge, finished as a runner-up and defeated, Hurricane Fly, by 1 ¾ lengths, who raced as a favourite with a shot of 4 to 6.
Owned by T.G. Leslie, Overturn’s performance in the previous season was magnificent, as he safely secured a hat-trick.
Donald McCain is hoping that the eight-year-old gelding will use this opportunity to down this big event.
Donald McCain told the media that: "He has been fine since Cheltenham and is working away nicely. We purposely skipped Aintree to go to Punchestown and providing the ground is okay, he will run."
Overturn, the bay gelding who whelped on 22nd April, 2004, has an opportunity to maintain his superiority over Hurricane Fly, trained by W.P. Mullins, as they will be facing off in the prestigious event at Punchestown.
Paddy Power believes that Hurricane Fly has the ability to defeat, Overturn, and they might declare him the favourite with a chance of 4 to 6, making Overturn the second favourite with the odds of 5 to 1.
New Year’s Eve, the bay gelding trained by John Ferguson for owner, Bloomfields, will also compete at Punchestown on 25th April, 2012.
The four-year-old gelding is in brilliant form, as he has shown tremendous potential in his short career. He triumphed in two of his starts and secured a solid finish as a runner-up in the Cheltenham Festival.
Barry Geraghty rode the son of Motivator, out of Midnight Angel, in the Grade 1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race) on 14th
March, 2012, and the duo performed in a terrific manner.
He was declared a favourite with 9 to 2 odds, but despite his best effort he fell 1 ¼ lengths short of the victory, which was landed by Champagne Fever.
John Ferguson is confident about his runner’s ability as he stated that:"He ran very well at Cheltenham and I'm looking forward to him running again. He was a four-year-old running against older horses and time will tell whether or not Punchestown
suits him better than Cheltenham."
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