Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins send exciting crops of novice hurdlers into Grade 1 battle at Leopardstown

Bleu De Vassy didn't look anything out of the ordinary in bumpers last season, but he's improved out of sight for a hurdle and will be tough to beat in his first Grade 1 assignment.

The Gordon Elliott-trained five-year-old took four attempts to get off the mark in bumpers before scoring at Clonmel over 2m2½f on testing ground which marked him out as a staying prospect, but he has looked a proper two-miler over flights.

His maiden hurdle win came in a moderate contest at Fairyhouse, but he looked different class as he was electric over his flights and glided 25 lengths clear before he followed that up with another polished display over this trip at Navan in Grade 3 company.

The manner in which he ambled into the lead approaching two out was scintillating and although it wasn't the strongest Graded event, he couldn't have done much more and the fact he's handled decent ground on his last two runs bodes well. 

His Cullentra stablemate Romeo Coolio was a smart bumper performer and made a winning start to life over hurdles in impressive style at Down Royal, but was slightly underwhelming in the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse when turned over at short odds by Tounsivator. They didn't go a mad gallop that day but the first three home all came from the rear, so I don't think he had many excuses.

He might need further at this stage, especially given his runner-up effort in the Champion Bumper came on soft ground in a fast-run race.

Karniquet made an encouraging debut for Willie Mullins at Tramore when beating subsequent winner Downmexicoway by 11 lengths and is firmly in the could-be-anything category. His closing sectionals were rapid on that occasion. 

Karniquet swept to an 11-length victory on his Irish debutCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

He faces quicker ground but I would still marginally side with him at odds of 7-2 or bigger given the visual impression he made on his debut coupled with his effort on the clock. However, he will have to be every bit as smart as he looked to beat Bleu De Vassy.

Karafon also put up a nice performance at Clonmel last time but the form seems questionable, while Sea Of Sands ran on encouragingly in the Royal Bond last time and has solid place claims on that evidence.

What they say 

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Bleu De Vassy and Romeo Coolio
Bleu De Vassy has improved a lot since we sent him jumping. He was just a bit raw as a bumper horse and needed time to strengthen up. He's done nothing wrong and deserves to take his chance in a race like this. Romeo Coolio is one I've always liked, but it didn't go the way I had hoped in the Royal Bond. A stronger pace would suit him and he seems to be in good nick. Hopefully he can improve upon what he showed at Fairyhouse. He'll have to.

Willie Mullins, trainer of Karniquet, Karafon and Sea Of Sands
Karniquet was very impressive at Tramore last time and Patrick has elected to ride him. Karafon went very nicely for Patrick at Clonmel and Sea Of Sands ran a cracker in the Royal Bond and a little improvement will see him test the top ones here. The ground will suit him.

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