'The best mare in training' - where will Lossiemouth end up at Cheltenham?

Probably the best mare in training at the moment, the extremely talented Lossiemouth has multiple options open to her at the Cheltenham Festival.

State Man’s absence in the Champion Hurdle means she’s probably Willie Mullins’ leading candidate, while she appears to be more at home over further, bringing the 2m4f Mares’ Hurdle into things.

Her trainer hasn’t entered the seven-year-old in the Stayers’ Hurdle but she would certainly be interesting if connections decided to supplement her.

The Champion Hurdle Case

Pros: Lossiemouth has been exceptional over two miles so far this season and she would be a bonafide contender in the big race on Day 1. She won the Morgiana Hurdle in a canter on seasonal debut at Fairyhouse and definitely looked like a Champion Hurdle horse that day.

Going in again at Leopardstown over Christmas, she got the better of Gordon Elliott’s extremely talented mare Brighterdaysahead Lossiemouth heads the betting for the Irish Champion Hurdle later this week and is well set to win again.

Cons: Both of her defeats last season came over two miles, the first of which was at the hands of Constitution Hill and she was a faller in the Irish Champion Hurdle last year. Mullins’ mare looked a little one-paced at Kempton and never really looked comfortable.

Her form over 2m4f is probably better and that trip appears to be more suitable, despite the fact that she can perform at the highest level over shorter.

The Mares’ Hurdle: Defending the Title

Pros:Winner of the race for the last two years, Lossiemouth proved herself to be much the best in the division, as everyone expected. Realistically she has the potential to go on and win four or five in-a-row and put herself in the same category as Quevega.

Her impressive victory against the boys in the Aintree Hurdle suggests she’s the best two-and-a-half-mile hurdler in training at the moment, so why wouldn’t connections run the mare over her ideal trip?

Cheltenham Festival winners aren’t usually easy to achieve, but Mares’ Hurdle successes are when you have horses like her. Willie Mullins has a title to defend and the first-place prize money for winning this race is as good as guaranteed if she runs.

Cons: There aren’t really many negatives attached to the prospect of her running here other than she’s clearly too good for the race and the Champion Hurdle needs her. State Man and Sir Gino are both out of contention now and she is the last horse standing.

The Stayers’ Hurdle Wildcard

Pros:Horses tend to stay further the older they get and she was a top juvenile hurdler a couple of seasons ago and they certainly tend to stay well later in their careers. The daughter of Great Pretender sees out her races over 2m4f well and three miles shouldn’t be a problem.

Even if she doesn’t quite have the profile for a race such as this, the mare has so much ability that class could be enough to see her through. Connections could go down the Champion Hurdle route for now but you wouldn’t want to rule out this race in the future.

Cons: Lossiemouth has never run over three miles before and that would be a potential concern. Winners of this race tend to use stamina to their advantage in order to grind it out, so her turn of foot and tactical speed would be wasted.

One obvious obstacle is the fact that she’s currently not entered in the race, although admittedly it would be very easy for Mullins and Ricci to supplement her.