Visit Punchestown.com Juvenile Hurdle 2011

2.25 Punchestown

Visit Punchestown.com Juvenile Hurdle (grade 3) (Class 1)  (4YO only)

Winner €17,875

Advice: 2 pts win Ut De Sivola (1/2 Paddy Power)

One Cool Shabra: Been on the go since August but improved with every run and made it three wins over hurdles with hard fought win at Gorwan; Grade 2 third last time another solid effort and should run well despite giving away weight.

Burrenbridge Lodge: Made an excellent start to life over hurdles and convincing effort when given One Cool Shabra weight and a beating at Cork; That for been turned around since though and and behind One Cool Shabra last time.

Chill: Has clearly improved for experience, as he showed when running out a ready winner of a well contested race for juveniles at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival; Should get much closer to top 2 now than he did on first starts over hurdles and interesting.

Discoteca: Proven useful on the flat (listed fourth after clear cut maiden win) ending up with a rating of 85 for his Windsor handicap win; Well held on hurdling debut by Chill and feeling is that those placings will stay the same.

Hissaabaat: Decent on flat and acceptable start over hurdles when winning on well close home to finish second behind Sportsmaster at Naas latest; Hard to know how good that form is but combination of trainer and jockey respected.

Ut De Sivola: Second in three runner French bumper before bolting in on Irish hurdles debut, coming home well clear of exposed rival with tons in hand; Tougher race here but looks a top notch prospect if able to repeat that form and should be hard to beat here.

Gris Ladera:  Promise in maidens on the flat but been poor in two AW runs at Dundalk and hurdling experience lacking, so look elsewhere.

VERDICT: UT DE SIVOLA barely came off the bridle to land his first race of any kind when winning at Clonmel and while this will be harder, we should learn a lot about him coming under pressure for the first time. The weight he receives from Burrenbridge Lodge and One Cool Shabra adds strongly to his case while Hisabaat, Chill and Discoteca all have more to give without being as appealing.