'We hope he isn't naughty' - Not So Sleepy ready for Fighting Fifth rematch

Hughie Morrison is not worried if Nicky Henderson's stars Constitution Hill and Epatante line up against Not So Sleepy in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle (2.10) on Saturday.

The trainer saw his ten-year-old shock Epatante when dead-heating in the Betfair-backed race last year and this time he could also have Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill to contend with as Henderson and owner Michael Buckley ponder whether to send the five-year-old to Newcastle or wait for Cheltenham's International Hurdle next month.

But Not So Sleepy will be at Newcastle and will face the starter rated 4lb higher than Epatante after finishing a respectable sixth in the Champion Hurdle on his last start over hurdles.

Morrison said: "I don't envy Nicky Henderson in terms of trying to run these horses and to try and keep them apart as he would hope to do at this stage of the season. I don't know who's going to turn up, but I don't mind who we take on really."

Not So Sleepy and Jonathan Burke with Aidan Coleman and Epatante after dead-heating in last year's Fighting Fifth Hurdle at NewcastleCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Not So Sleepy is not without his quirks as he showed when throwing Paddy Brennan to the ground before the first in the 2020 running of the Fighting Fifth and Morrison is hoping he won't repeat those antics.

"He can be really good, but he has been racing for nine seasons now unlike most of these horses," Morrison added. "He schooled well the other day, the lad said he felt great this morning, but he usually does. He's a difficult horse to judge because once he's cantering he goes up the gallops with a lot of enthusiasm every day.

"We just live in hope he turns up and doesn't do anything naughty, which you can't predict, but he's entitled to be a bit naughty after running in 60 races over nine years."

Having run some good races on the Flat on quicker ground than ideal, including a placed effort in the Cesarewitch in October, Not So Sleepy should appreciate the current ground (soft, good to soft in places) at Newcastle.

"He will like getting back to softer ground, but he's thrown up some blips on ground that he should have gone on and I think he would probably want it to rain on Saturday morning," Morrison said.

"He probably wants ground that they get through, he won't want it sticky though, which they might get if it doesn't rain after Wednesday. They trashed it last Thursday there, but we'll see what type of soft ground it's going to be."

Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle (2.10 Newcastle, Saturday)

Betfair: 8-11 Epatante, 5-4 Constitution Hill, 7-2 Pied Piper, 9-2 Not So Sleepy, 8 Tommy's Oscar, 33 Voix Du Reve

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