Christmas staple Sharjah strikes late to join legends Istabraq and Hurricane Fly

Wednesday: Leopardstown

Another damn repeat, only this time it wasn't an embarrassing episode of Mrs Brown's Boys, but instead a glorious Sharjah sequel as he unwrapped a fourth Matheson Hurdle.

You might scoff when you hear his name mentioned in the same sentence as Istabraq and Hurricane Fly, who also won four Matheson Hurdles, but neither of them managed to win four in a row. It is an outstanding achievement.

This was not Sharjah at his slickest either, which makes the feat all the more admirable. He didn't move through the race with the same pizazz as usual and even traded at a high of 6-1 in-running on Betfair.

There was a fleeting moment on the home turn when Zanahiyr, four years his junior, looked like he might have him cooked, but this was Sharjah and this is his favourite time of the year.

Patrick Mullins, who went on to win all four bumpers at the meeting, admitted afterwards that his 21st Grade 1 win was not straightforward, but winning ugly is now another attribute Sharjah can add to his repertoire.

The champion amateur said: "He's a very special horse to emulate Hurricane Fly and Istabraq. They are two proper legends of the game and, look, he's not as good as them, but neither of them did it four times in a row. What a horse. Not everything went right but he still won."

He added: "I was never really comfortable like he usually is around here. What nearly got me beat was the fact we had to come around the last hurdle. That meant I had to go out on to the older, slower, softer ground. I could feel he wasn't going as well on it when we got out there. Jack Kennedy was cute too, he didn't go straight over to the rail, and kept us on it. But he still won."

Members can watch the replay here

Sharjah was returned at 5-6, but it wasn't an easy watch for odds-on backers, nor for Willie Mullins in the stands.

"That wasn't good for the heart!" he laughed. "Patrick said he wasn't as sharp as he was other years. With the last hurdle missing, he got pushed out on to yesterday's ground and that probably just blunted his speed in the last furlong, but he still managed to get the job done. It was a terrific race."

Paddy Power cut the winner to 8-1 (from 10) for the Champion Hurdle, while BoyleSports left him unchanged at 10-1 for the race he has finished runner-up in for the last two years.

When asked how he was going to beat Honeysuckle in March, Willie Mullins said: "You might have to find someone else to do that.

"I don't know whether we can anyway. None of those look like they can do it. If she [Honeysuckle] gets there on the day she'll be hard to beat."

Mullins is going to try something different this season, though, and will not be taking on Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle in February.

"We might go straight to Cheltenham now," he said. "I'll have a word with Rich and Susannah [Ricci] but it might be the thing to do. That race in February doesn't seem to work for him."

Zanahiyr moved to the front on the home turn and made Sharjah pull out all the stops and for a four-year-old with such little experience in open company it was a superb effort.

"He's run a cracker and you'd have to be delighted with him. He stuck his neck out and battled all the way to the line. He's progressing all the time," said Gordon Elliott.

There will be other days for Zanahiyr, but this day belonged to Sharjah. Finally a repeat that was worth watching over Christmas.

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday