'She was so impressive at Cheltenham' - Lossiemouth out to repeat Vauban feat

Vauban won this after Triumph Hurdle glory 12 months ago, but he is the only horse this century to achieve the feat. You have to rewind to Katarino in 1999 to find the last juvenile to do it before that. 

Lossiemouth proved herself to be the outstanding juvenile of the season in the Triumph Hurdle last month and you sense all she will have to do is repeat that performance to follow up. She earned a Racing Post Rating of 143 for that display and stablemate Gala Marceau has two and a quarter lengths to find. 

It probably wasn't in the pre-race script to take it up coming down the hill in the Triumph, but Lossiemouth was travelling so sweetly that Paul Townend had to tear it up and use his own initiative. 

He managed to keep enough in reserve to fend off stablemates Gala Marceau and Zenta and she was probably value for more than the winning margin. 

Paul Townend: rider of Lossiemouth

Apart from a luckless effort at the Dublin Racing Festival, where she was shuffled back to last at a crucial stage of the race, Lossiemouth hasn't put a foot wrong over hurdles and this should be the perfect final act of her juvenile campaign. 

We have had shocks in this Grade 1 race recently, though. Jeff Kidder was a 22-1 winner in 2021, while Saldier (10-1) and Abbyssial (15-2) were not stable first strings when they won. 

Zarak The Brave is the race's unknown quantity. He was 5-4 favourite to beat Lossiemouth when the pair clashed at Fairyhouse in December, but was put in her place when it mattered and has four lengths to make up. She has not been seen since then and it is a big challenge to win this after a 146-day break. 

Enjoy The Dream was a revelation at Fairyhouse. She may have been 33-1, but she was last off the bridle and stormed clear of the smart Blood Destiny for a three-length victory. There looked to be no fluke about it, but this represents another rise in class and Lossiemouth may prove too hot to handle.

What they say 

Joseph O'Brien, trainer of Nusret
The drier the ground, the better his chance. He has been holding his form consistently all season and we're hoping he can run into the prize-money again.

James Nash, trainer of Your Honor
I thought there might have been more rain and I was hoping there would be. He's a juvenile who handles soft conditions really well, so the more rain the better for him. If the ground does soften I could see him outrun his odds.

Andrew McNamara, trainer of Enjoy The Dream
She's very well. She came out of her win at Fairyhouse in great shape. We thought she would run well there, and maybe run into a place, but it was a pleasant surprise to see her turning in hard on the bridle. Unfortunately, I'm a big fan of Lossiemouth and I know she'll be very hard to beat. We're hoping for a big run, though.

Paul Townend, rider of Lossiemouth
She was so impressive at Cheltenham. There isn’t a lot between herself and Gala Marceau, but I think I'm on the best one. Everything has been good with her since Cheltenham and I'm hoping she can finish off her season in the best style possible.

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