Our Road to Cheltenham ante-post series is well underway and we’re at that stage of the season where there’s Festival pointers aplenty. Many Cheltenham contenders have made the seasonal reappearances and many will do so over the next few weeks. This week’s ante-post candidate is a potential runner in the Mares’ Hurdle and she’s an exciting prospect for the season. You can check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Ashroe Diamond was very competitive in some of the top novice hurdles over two miles last season. She was just over four lengths behind Marine Nationale and Irish Point in the Royal Bond, which is fantastic form. Willie Mullins’ charge was then third behind stablemate Facile Vega at Leopardstown over Christmas.
Her form started to take off once upped in trip and she returned to winning ways in Grade 3 company at Fairyhouse in January. It was probably a career-best effort when easily winning the Grade 1 Honeysuckle Mares Novice Hurdle novice last time out. That performance indicated that she’s an ideal candidate for the big race in March.
Fairyhouse’s Hatton’s Grace Hurdle on December 3rd would be a good starting point for the season. Although stablemate Impaire Et Passe would prove hard to beat there, she’s more than capable of running into a place. She’s won’t bump into him at the Festival in March and would surely have a massive chance if lining up.
Ashroe Diamond @ 7-1 (Mares’ Hurdle) 2pts win
Ballyburn (Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle) @ 7-1 (2pts win)
Blazing Khal (Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase) @ 20-1 (1pt win)
Wrappedupinmay (Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle) @ 33-1 (1pt win)
Captain Bellamy (Champion Bumper)Â @ 25-1 (1pt win)
Jeriko Du Reponet (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle) @ 25-1 (1pt win)
Corach Rambler (Cheltenham Gold Cup) @ 33-1 (1/2pt each-way)
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