Hurricane Fly again at Punchestown?

Willie Mullins won 5 races here yesterday, with Ruby Walsh aboard 4 of them, and we expect this winning duo to have another profitable day on this fourth day of the Punchestown Festival. Mullins entered 6 in the Rabobank Champion Hurdle over 2 mlles at 18.30, the big feature today, and runs four of them with Ruby on Hurricane Fly, the current Champion Hurdler from Cheltenham. Hiurricane Fly has won 16 of his 18 starts for the stable, including this race 3 times and we cannot see him being beaten today, especially as the heavy ground will definitely be against his main rival and Cheltenham runner-up Rock on Ruby (Harry Fry/ Noel Fehily). The Fly should however have no problems with the ground, as it was even worse when he won here last year, and on that form he clearly holds Thiusand Stars (Paul Townend). In fact So Young (David Casey) could well turn out to be the best of the 3 other Mullins runners, as 2 miles on heavy going is ideal for him, while Galway Hurdle winner Rebel Fitz (Mervyn Winters/ Barry Geraghty) is best of the others. Hurricane Fly is clearly the best hurdler around at the moment and irt will be quite a shock if he does not win this race for the fourth time today.

Mullins and Walsh should also take the other Grade One on the card, the novice hurdle at 19.05 with the German-bred Piont Alexandre. This one surprisingly failed to win the Neptune at Cheltenham, but it was still a decent performance and his earlier wins stamped him as a youngster with great potential. Ubak (Gary and Jamie Moore) finished well behind him atr Cheltenham but went on to a very easy Grade Two win at Aintree, but the going here will be very different, and we expect Mullins´ other runner Un Atout (Davy Russell)- also beaten at Cheltenham when 4th in the Supreme, but with good form beforehand- to take the runner-up spot.

Un de Sceaux, an ex-French horsew who was a very impressive winner on his Irish debut over this CD two months ago, can be another winner for Mullins and Walsh at 19.40, while the pair also have chances in the handicaps at 17.20 and 17.55 with Immediate Response and Vesper Bell; however these are very tricky races and we have slight preference for Spring Heeled (Jim Culloty/ David Splaine) and English raider and top-weight Silver by Nature (Lucinda Russell/ Peter Buchanan) respectively. Mullins also saddles Bluemountainbeach, a half-sister to recent Japanese winner Blackstairmountain, in the fillies bumoer at 20.10; she makes her debut here and will be ridden by Ruby´s sister Katie, a very competent jockey, not quite as good as her brother perhaps but much better looking.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Cool Warrior - Satorie - Enniskillen
2. Race: The Real Article - Immediate Response - Terminal
3. Race: Panther Claw - Novarov - Goonyella
4. Race: Hurricane Fly - Rock On Ruby - Thousand Stars
5. Race: Un Atout - Ubak - Sizing Rio
6. Race: Un De Sceaux - Waaheb - Cops And Robbers
7. Race: Robina Mai - Bluemountainbeach - Storm Away
8. Race: Salsify - Oscar Delta - Western Charmer