Five horses to follow at Fairyhouse's Easter Festival

One of the highlights in the Irish racing calendar is the three-day Fairyhouse Easter Festival, with the feature race of the meeting being the €500,000 Boylesports Irish Grand National.

However, with plenty of Graded action to also enjoy across the three days, this year’s meeting should unearth future stars, as well as seeing established ones strut their stuff in a myriad of Graded races.

Galopin Des Champs is one of the star names on show, and Willie Mullins’ star chaser will bid to gain compensation following his final fence fall at the Cheltenham Festival when facing five rivals in the Boylesports Gold Cup Novice Chase on Sunday.

We’ve taken a look at five horses worth making a note of who are set to run at Fairyhouse across the Easter weekend, and don’t forget you can watch every race live on Racing TV over the three days.

Trainer: Noel Meade.

Race:I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF Novice Handicap Hurdle Series Final - (Saturday, 4.15pm)

I put this five-year-old in the Racing TV Expert Eye section following his promising run at Cork last time out. Stepping up to three miles for the first time, and on handicap debut, Bugs Moran travelled sweetly under Sean Flanagan before making steady headway from the back of the field to finish third and was only beaten a length and three-quarters.

That run highlighted he stays the trip, and he has only been raised 2lb to a rating of 118. His Cork conqueror, Nell’s Well, reopposes here, whilst the Willie Mullins-trained duo of Tempo Chapter Two and Belle Metal are both noteworthy.

However, Bugs Moran is still thoroughly unexposed over timber and should go close in this event.

Trainer: Willie Mullins.

Race:RYBO Handicap Hurdle - (Saturday, 4.50pm)

Willie Mullins has won five of the past nine renewals of this event and he holds a strong hand again in this year’s contest. His seven contenders include the thoroughly unexposed Heia who finished down the field at the Cheltenham Festival in March but had previously impressed when winning a maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse.

However, Farout looks to have been primed to run well in this €100,000 handicap. The five-year-old shaped with tons of promise in his first starts in Grade One company at Fairyhouse and Leopardstown this season.

Ninth in the County Hurdle behind stable companion State Man, he made eye-catching headway approaching the final flight, but could not sustain that run.

He’s rated 5lb lower here than the rating he raced off in the County Hurdle, so he could prove to be a handicap blot in this competitive contest.

Trainer: Willie Mullins.

Race:Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final - (Sunday, 3.10pm)

The vibes from her connections were strong ahead of the Mares Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, but this five-year-old eventually ended up missing that intended engagement having been supported into 12-1 from an opening show of 50-1 ante-post.

Speaking on the Road to Cheltenham ahead of the Festival, Ruby Walsh made no secret of the regard in which this daughter of Sea The Moon is held in, and she rates as a fascinating runner.

Second to the now Gary Moore-trained Royaume Uni at Angers in June 2020, she finished runner-up again on her final start in France at Clairefontaine over an extended 14 furlongs before she was purchased for €90,000 at the Arqana sale the following month.

Willie Mullins is set to finally take the wraps off his exciting youngster, who is a half-sister to Grade One scorer Supasundae, and it will be interesting to see how she fares against some strong opposition here, including stablemate Grangee.

Trainer: Paul Nolan.

Trainer: Arthur Moore.

Race:Fairyhouse Steel Handicap Hurdle (Monday, 3.15pm)

Legendary trainer Arthur Moore has steadily brought along this son of Shantou who cost £82,000.

The six-year-old caused a surprise when scoring on hurdling debut at Fairyhouse in January before impressing when landing the Tommy Carberry Handicap Hurdle over the same course and distance in February.

Pitched on the rail, he showed a cracking attitude to run out a length and a half winner of a competitive event. A return to Fairyhouse was always going to be on the cards and there could still be scope for improvement in handicap company off a mark of 134, given his liking for the track and his unexposed nature.