“Untold potential” — Mullins unleashes €175k Boedic as Cromwell plots Thurles tactical ambush. The latest installment of the William Hill Challenge Series takes place at Thurles on Saturday afternoon, the 2m maiden hurdle divided into two divisions, having attracted a whopping 81 entries at the five-day stage. Each division (13.57 and 14.32) will have a maximum field of 13 runners and we’ve provided a selection and next best for second and arguably stronger of the two races. Selection: Boedic @ SP with William Hill Next Best: Luker’s Tipple @ SP with William Hill Boedic looks like the answer Willie Mullins was on target in the inaugural running of this race in 2024 with 7-1 chance Asian Master and he looks to hold strong claims once again courtesy of hurdling debutant, BOEDIC. The four-year-old, a €175,000 half-brother to French 2m1f/2m2f hurdle/chase winner Bayaline, shaped with a ton of promise in a Fairyhouse bumper on his debut in April, the sizeable chestnut gelding gradually picking off rivals under John Gleeson in the straight to finish fourth of the 17 runners, beaten a total of four-and-a-half lengths. That looked good form at the time and Robert Tyner’s winner, I’m Slippy, made an impressive start over hurdles at Cork last month and followed that with an excellent second in the Grade 3 Jack McInerney Memorial Hurdle back at Fairyhouse afterwards. Furthermore, the tenth-placed Intosomethinggood, trained by Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies, has won three times over hurdles in Britain this season and is now rated 129, having finished fourth in a Grade 2 Trial for the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham last weekend. Fitness has to be taken on trust following a 244-day absence, but he’s got untold potential and could well outclass these rivals under Paul Townend. Tipple the danger with Cromwell back in form Gavin Cromwell is in much better form than at this stage last month and it’s fair to assume that the 118-rated LUKER’S TIPPLE will be in the mix for the County Meath-based handler, who has sent out six jumps winners over the past fortnight, as opposed to just one in the entire month of November. The four-year-old is currently 0-15 under rules, including 0-11 over hurdles, but he’s got some notable bits of form to his name, particularly in the context of this maiden. A runner-up on six separate occasions, he’s run to Racing Post Ratings of 115 to 121 on five of his last eight starts and will this much easier, having contested a Listed handicap at Fairyhouse last month. Power another to consider The Joseph O’Brien-trained Zeus Power enters calculations, the four-year-old having run to a Racing Post Rating of 113 when runner-up on his hurdling debut over 2m4f three weeks ago. He threw a bumper away on his introduction at Galway in October, hanging badly left, very likely through greenness and picked off inside the final furlong. Again finding one too good over the same course-and-distance next time, he shaped nicely switched to hurdles, albeit showing signs of inexperience at various stages. He shouldn’t be overly inconvenienced by this drop back in trip, but in all likelihood, if more of a type for handicaps later in the campaign.
