12-Nov-2008

Catch Me was an impressive winner of the Philips Electronics Lismullen Hurdle at Navan on Sunday. He travelled well in behind in the early stages, he made his ground around the home turn, took it up on the run to the last and stayed on really well up the hill to score impressively. In so doing, he gave the impression that he would be a real live candidate for the World Hurdle in March.

Although the official ground was given as soft at Navan on Sunday, the times on the day suggest that it was actually heavy. If you can stay on up the hill on heavy ground at Navan after two and a half miles as well as Catch Me did, then there is every chance that you will get three miles standing on your head. However, Edward O’Grady has already tried Catch Me over three miles, in the Grade 1 World Series Hurdle at Punchestown last April, when he travelled like the winner to the third last but just didn’t get home.

There is a small chance that Catch Me will get three miles in March given that he will be seven years old then, but it is only a small chance, and O’Grady said afterwards that he might miss Cheltenham altogether with him and train him for the Aintree Hurdle, run over two and a half miles, which makes a lot of sense especially if the ground were to come up soft at Aintree. More immediately, the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse on November 30th is on his radar. Two and a half miles on soft ground is probably optimum for the son of Law Society, and he should get his conditions there. As a bonus, he was a really impressive winner from Big Zeb and Holly Tree on his only run over hurdles at Fairyhouse and, although the Paul Nicholls-trained Elusive Dream is an interesting entry in the Hatton’s Grace at this stage, if Catch Me shows up in the form that he was in last Sunday, he will take some beating.

© The Irish Field, 12th November, 2008