For many months, horse racing fans have been willing Gordon Elliott and Michael O'Leary to send their superstar mare Apple's Jade to the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. After impressing with a wide margin of victory in the Irish equivalent, it appears as though the wish of many racing fans may have been granted.
Speaking a day after her success, trainer Elliott and owner O'Leary said they saw so much in that run that her target at the win by a margin of 16 lengths. Supasundae, Petit Mouchoir and Melon filled the places in behind her, but this race was all about one mare, and the seven-year-old certainly rose to the occasion and wowed the crowd that flocked to the Dublin Racing Festival over the weekend of February 2-3.
This was the first time we had seen Apple's Jade over the two-mile trip since she was beaten in the Grade One Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle back in November 2016, and she certainly handled the drop very well. She has predominantly raced over 2m4f (the distance of the Mares' Hurdle), while from time to time she has been upped to three miles. She has always looked quick, though, and her ability to jump hurdles at speed is something that is a must-have from a two-mile horse.
Her switch to the Champion Hurdle now sets up what is likely to be the clash of the Festival, with Elliot's charge set to face two-time Champion Buveur D'Air. The Nicky Henderson-trained horse has had things all his own way for the past couple of years in the division, with the exception of one defeat to another mare, Verdana Blue. Not only does he have to face Apple's Jade in the big one next month, but she will get a valuable 7lb mares' allowance from him.
While many great stories will be written at the festival, the Champion Hurdle could be home to the biggest of the week. A mare as popular as Apple's Jade winning a championship race would certainly be headline news in the racing world. However, let's not forget about the current champion, Buveur D'Air, who is bidding to win this race for the third straight time. Any horse that wins a hat-trick of championship races is sure to go down as being one of the greatest we have ever seen, and with his almost-perfect record elsewhere away from Cheltenham, this would be a fitting title.
