top N.H. action in Ireland today

the spotlight moves today to Ireland and in particular Leopardstown where there is an extremely strong card with the Irish Champion Hurdle at 15.45 CET as the main feature. There should be plenty of Cheltenham clues here as the field includes the 2009 runner-up Celestial Halo (Paul Nicholls/ Ruby Walsh) and the 2007 winner Sublimity (Robbie Hennessey/ Philip Carberry). However the one to beat should be heavy ground specialist Solwhit (Charlie Byrnes/ Davy Russell), who holds Sublimity on latest form and has won 7 of his last 9 races. Donnas Palm (Noel Meade/ Barry Geraghty), moving up in grade after winning 4 of his last 5 races, must also be considered.
The "Irish Arkle" novice chase at 14.45 is also a Grade One affair with another strong challenger from the Paul Nicholls stable - Take the Breeze (Tony McCoy), who loves this ground and has won his last 3 races in spectacular style. Ruby Walsh now partners Willie Mullins´ Sports Line, who has also won his last 3 races, while Zaarito (Colm Murphy/ Denis O´Regan) also comes into the mix. Mullins and Walsh also have good prospects in the Grade Two novice hurdle at 16.20 with Quel Esprit, while we expect ex-German Le Marquis (Tony Martin/ David Casey) to run well in the handicap hurdle at 16.50 and Dermot Weld, who had a double here yesterday