Dysart Enos in a good place for Ladbrokes Hurdle bid

Fergal O’Brien is excited to see Dysart Enos line up for the Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle at Ascot on Saturday.

The Grade Two bumper winner looked every inch a top-class prospect in winning her first three starts over hurdles last season, but a minor setback caused her to miss the Cheltenham Festival and she also sidestepped Aintree in the spring due to unsuitable ground.

That meant she had been on the sidelines for 10 months by the time she reappeared in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in mid-November – and while she met with defeat for the first time in seven career starts, O’Brien was satisfied with her performance in finishing third behind the high-class Burdett Road and Be Aware, who is again in opposition in this weekend’s £125,000 contest.

“We’d have been disappointed if she was seventh and beaten 15 lengths or something, but she wasn’t. She was beaten three and a half lengths and finished behind two better horses on the day,” he said.

“It was her first run for 10 months, the winner was hard-fit from the Flat and I’m really looking forward to her running on Saturday. She’s in great form, very happy with her.”

Jockey Jonathan Burke, who partnered Dysart Enos for the first time in the Greatwood Hurdle following the retirement of her regular rider Paddy Brennan, has suggested he may look to give his mount more cover and ride her more conservatively on Saturday.

O’Brien feels the fact his new stable jockey has now had the opportunity to get to know his star mare is a major plus ahead of her bid to get back on the winning trail.

“I think there’s a lot of improvement there and we’ve taken that edge off her now hopefully with that first run,” the trainer added.

“Johnny has had a ride on her now and it’s difficult when you get on one in a big handicap and you’ve never ridden them before. It was my idea to have her where she was, as I was bit worried that if she was a bit slow at the first couple of hurdles she’d get left behind a little bit.

“Her jumping was a little bit sticky in novices, but the pleasing thing about her run in the Greatwood was the way she jumped and the way she travelled.

“I think Johnny is really looking forward to riding her, I’m looking forward to running her and we’ll see where she is.”

It promises to be a huge day for O’Brien and his Ravenswell Farm team, with another stable star in Crambo bidding for back-to-back wins in the Long Walk Hurdle.

“If I couldn’t get excited about Saturday I should be in a different job,” he said.

“Am I nervous? Probably not, I’m really look forward to it. You want them to run well obviously, but we’re very happy that both horses are in a good place, so fingers crossed.”

Favour And Fortune makes his first competitive appearance since winning the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr in April, with trainer Alan King hoping for a positive comeback.

“He worked very well on Wednesday morning. He had a hold up earlier in the year and I think there’ll be a wee bit of improvement, but I think he’s ready to start,” he told Sky Sports Racing.

“I always thought he was a very good horse last year and he ran very well through the winter on really deep ground. He handles that, but he’s a better horse on better ground, as we saw in the Scottish Champion Hurdle.

“I thought we’d get him started and then we can go for something like the Betfair Hurdle, that would be my sort of plan with him.”

While King would be happy to encounter a decent surface with Favour And Fortune, Olly Murphy is hoping the heavens open to give his Greatwood Hurdle ninth Go Dante the best possible chance.

“If there was rain he’d have a chance, if there’s not rain I’d be slightly concerned, albeit he’ll take his chance,” said Murphy.

“I’ve left the headgear off him. On his day he’s well capable of running very well in these big handicaps, but the softer the ground the better he is.”

Paul Nicholls saddles the Kabral Du Mathan, who won his only start in France and is two from two since arriving in Britain, scoring at Huntingdon in January and on his Kempton return last month.

Nicholls told Betfair: “He’s a nice prospect who won tidily on his debut for us at Huntington in January before a little setback ruled him out for the rest of the season.

“I was delighted with his comeback success last month at Kempton where he was firmly on top at the finish. The plan was to take him to Sandown for a valuable handicap a fortnight ago but I withdrew him when the ground turned heavy.

“I’ve had this race in mind since then. He’s unbeaten over hurdles and although he was raised 8lbs after Kempton I feel he has a lovely chance provided they do not get much rain.”

Other contenders include Hughie Morrison’s Secret Squirrel, the Sam Thomas-trained Steel Ally and Irish raider Impero, who has won his last three races for Cian Collins.

“He doesn’t have to front run – we can do anything with him. The good thing about him is we can work around the way the race is run,” said Collins.

“Hopefully there’s a bit more left in him and he won very impressively at Musselburgh (last time).

“I’m not sure what he beat, but the way he did it I was very happy with him.”