Jack Kennedy has put the Unibet Champion Hurdle front and centre for Brighterdaysahead after her Irish Champion Hurdle win at Leopardstown, insisting the mare has “unfinished business” at Cheltenham and signalling he is keen to keep the ride in March.
Brighterdaysahead surged towards the top of the Champion Hurdle market on the back of an explosive Sunday performance, travelling with purpose through the race before putting daylight between herself and Lossiemouth when Kennedy asked her to lengthen. The response looked immediate and ruthless: she changed gear, attacked the line and made a Grade 1 field feel flat-footed.
Connections nominated the Champion Hurdle as the target almost as soon as she pulled up, and they moved quickly to shut down any temptation to divert to the Mares’ Hurdle. That matters for punters and rivals alike: it tells you this is not a “safe option” campaign, but a deliberate tilt at the division’s blue riband, with the confidence of a yard that believes it has the right tool for the job.
Kennedy expecting better at Cheltenham this time around
Kennedy’s post-race comments carried more than routine optimism. He framed last season’s Cheltenham run as an outlier rather than a limitation, suggesting the mare never turned up in herself when it mattered most. “She wasn’t herself at all last year and I can’t wait to have another crack at it with her,” he told the Racing Post.
The betting reacted in kind. Brighterdaysahead shortened to 11-4 with sponsor odds referenced, second favourite behind only The New Lion at 9-4, a clear statement that Leopardstown form now sits right at the heart of the Champion Hurdle picture.
For Elliott and Kennedy, the task now turns to getting her to Prestbury Park in the same physical and mental shape: fresh enough to travel and quicken, hard enough to take a Championship pace, and settled enough to deliver that Leopardstown change of gear on the biggest stage.
“She wasn’t herself at all last year and I can’t wait to have another crack at it with her.”