Maughreen is set to bring a personal cheer squad of 80 fans to Cheltenham next week as she competes in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. The six year old, who shares bloodlines with the legendary Faugheen on her dam’s side, turned heads with an impressive 11-length victory in her bumper debut at Punchestown last January.
Despite a subsequent setback that kept her off the track for nearly a year, Maughreen returned triumphantly in a mares’ maiden hurdle at the same venue, securing a comfortable five-length win over 11 competitors as the odds-on favourite. Her connections, including trainer Willie Mullins, have decided her performance merits a direct route to the Cheltenham Festival, where she’ll be backed by a large contingent from the Closutton Racing Club.
“She’s great, we’re very happy with her and very excited to have a runner,” said the syndicate’s James Fenton. “We had Shewearsitwell for the Closutton Racing Club and now we’ve Maughreen, she goes there with a real live chance. The anticipation is building and our bags are being packed for next week. There’s about 80 travelling over, so a big contingent, and to be fair to Cheltenham, they’ve been great to deal with so far.
“I should say she’ll be the most well-supported horse on the day! Hopefully, she’ll travel well and do everything right, I suppose all the work is done now and she just has to give it her best shot.”
Maughreen is an impressive specimen with a future in chasing, but considering the time she’s been out, Fenton is eager to capitalise on her hurdling stage for the moment.
“She’s a baby, even though she’s a six-year-old, she’s a small bit of furnishing to do but we’re very happy with her,” he added. “She’s a chaser in the making but she can jump hurdles as good as anything, she’s a good, big, robust mare and we look forward to running her over fences. She has got unfinished business over hurdles first and we want to get that seen to.”
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