Roseys Hollow

The Solerina Hurdle is usually a good pointer to the future, it has been won in the recent past by Honeysuckle, Laurina, Limini, Minella Melody and Shattered Love, and this year’s renewal at Fairyhouse on Monday looked like a strong renewal, with Royal Kahala and Gauloise, both unbeaten over hurdles, both impressive in winning on their most recent runs, heading the market. They both appeared to run their races too, they both ran well, and Roseys Hollow had to put up a career-best to beat them.

Jonathan Sweeney’s mare was admittedly the beneficiary of an astute ground-saving ride by Mark Walsh, who got her nicely settled early on in mid-division. She wasn’t great at the first flight, but she jumped well thereafter, and she was particularly good at the first flight in the back straight, which took her from fifth to third along the inside. She travelled well from there behind the two leaders Delvino and Castra Vetera and, when Delvino started to weaken as they rounded the home turn, Mark Walsh moved her outside that rival but inside Castra Vetera, and she wheeled around the home turn on the inside with a share of the lead. Royal Kahala moved up nicely on the outside, but Roseys Hollow picked up just in front at the second last flight, and she kept on well from there over the last and up to the winning line to beat Peter Fahey’s mare by two lengths, with Gauloise another length and a half back in third.

This was another nice step forward by JP McManus’ mare. Winner of her only bumper and third behind Jon Snow and Fakiera in a maiden hurdle on her only run last season, she shaped encouragingly on her debut this season when she finished fourth behind Delvino, Castra Vetera and Royal Illusion in a hot mares’ maiden hurdle at Naas in December. She improved nicely from that to run out an impressive winner of her maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse in January, when she had subsequent Paddy Mullins Mares’ Handicap Hurdle runner-up Global Equity four lengths behind her in second place, and she improved again from then to win Monday’s race. It is interesting that both her trainer and her rider suggested afterwards that she could be even better dropping back down to two miles from this two-and-a-quarter-mile trip and, from the family of Champion Chase winner Big Zeb, she will be of interest if she takes her chance in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival
Fairyhouse, 8^th February 2021