The Willie Mullins-trained Hurricane Fly raced to his fourth straight win over arch-rival Solwhit with a convincing three-and-a-half length success in the BHP Insurances Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday and remains on course for the English equivalent at the Cheltenham Festival on March 15.
The latest instalment of the now rather one-sided head-to-head between the two leading Irish hurdlers went very much to script, with Hurricane Fly quickening away from the second last and soon taking command under Paul Townend to justify the 4/9 odds laid about him. Once again Solwhit failed to find a change of gear and could only keep on at the one pace to be second under Davy Russell.
Solwhit's trainer, Charles Byrnes, all but ruled out bidding for the Champion Hurdle after the fourth straight defeat of his horse by Hurricane Fly, suggesting that it might be prudent to wait until April and tackle the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle over two-and-a-half miles, a race the seven-year-old won in 2009.
For his part, Hurricane Fly now has his sights set on the star British trio of defending champion Binocular, the unbeaten Peddlers Cross, and the highly regarded Menorah, in the Stanjames.com Champion Hurdle, but it is hard to tell just how good he is having continually raced against (and beaten) the same horse and anyone looking at the Cheltenham 2011 betting predictions must remember this.
Bookmakers appear divided as to the merit of the Irish form with sponsors Stan James amongst those seemingly least impressed in offering 9/2 about the gelded son of Montjeu, which may be attractive to anyone looking to bet on Cheltenham racing.
Others offer as short as 7/2 about the Mullins runner's chance, whilst Boylesports appear to be running scared and have taken the precaution of making Hurricane Fly their 3/1 joint-favourite with Nicky Henderson's back-to-form Binocular.
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