Uradel

Uradel only finished 17th in the Ladbrokes Hurdle at Leopardstown on Saturday, but he ran much better than that. Settled in mid-division early on by Aubrey McMahon, he made nice progress as they raced to the end of the back straight. He travelled really well out of the back straight, and moved up on the outside into about seventh position, just three lengths behind the leaders. He was a little crowded on the run to the second last flight, and he wasn’t great at that obstacle, and he got left behind then quite quickly as they quickened. His rider wasn’t hard on him after that once his chance had gone, he just allowed him come home in his own time.

This was Uradel’s first run since he finished seventh in the Coral Cup at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival. He is 10 now, and he was allowed go off at 50/1 here, but he has run just 10 times over hurdles, and this performance suggests that there could be another day or two in him. Winner of the big Connacht Hotel Handicap at the 2018 Galway Festival, Willie Mullins’ horse was only beaten a neck by his stable companion Low Sun in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket two and a half months later. His two runs in the spring of 2019 – a close-up fifth in the Ladbrokes Hurdle, a close-up seventh in the Coral Cup – were good, and he should come on for this run, his first in almost two years. An Irish mark of 132 may be high enough to allow him sneak into the Coral Cup again this year, and he could run well at a big price in that if he does. No 10-year-old has won the Coral Cup wince Chance Coffey won it in 1995, but Uradel is a lightly-raced 10-year-old, he has raced just 10 times over hurdles, and Willie Mullins went very close in the Coral Cup with the 10-year-old Wicklow Brave in 2019. Even if he doesn’t go to Cheltenham, Uradel could out-perform market expectations wherever he goes next.
Leopardstown, 6^th February 2021