Storm Heart

Storm Heart did well to finish second behind McLaurey in the two-mile handicap hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival. Wide from early and a little worse than mid-division, he dropped back towards the rear of the field as they raced to the end of the back straight, and a mistake at the third last flight left him no better than 12th or 13th of the 18-strong field as they raced across the top of the track. His jumping throughout lacked fluency and, even at that, if he had jumped the final flight a little better, he might have troubled the winner. As it was, he got in tight and lost momentum, but he still had the ability to get to within a length of the well-handicapped winner by the time they got to the winning line. Perhaps McLaurey was idling but, even so, it would have been interesting if Storm Heart had jumped the last with momentum up.

This was just Storm Heart's fifth run over hurdles, and it was his seasonal debut, so he has obvious scope for progression now. Willie Mullins' horse held a high rank among the top juvenile hurdlers last season, he split Kargese and Majborough in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at this meeting last year, and he was sent off as favourite for the Triumph Hurdle, in which he ran well to finish fifth. And it looks like last season's crop of juvenile hurdlers was an unusually talented crop. The handicapper raised him by 7lb to a mark of 147, but he has the potential to be better than that now. Our of a mare who won over 10 furlongs, and a winner himself over a mile on the flat in France, he obviously has pace, he could be a County Hurdle horse, but he races like a step up in trip could help him. If could help his jumping for sure, a slightly slower pace could be a positive for him, and he could be a Coral Cup horse instead. He will be of interest though wherever he goes next.

Leopardstown, 2^nd February 2025