Alpha Des Obeaux winning the Clonmel Oil Chase last year© Photo Healy Racing
Alpha Des Obeaux is due to face just two rivals as he makes a swift return to action in the feature race at Thurles this afternoon.
With the ground described as good, good to firm in places, only 57 horses have been declared to run across the seven-race card and just the three are set to go to post for the Listed Boomerang Animal Bedding And Boomerang Horse & Country Store Chase.
Alpha Des Obeaux tops the weights for Gordon Elliott, with Henry de Bromhead’s Valseur Lido a second representative for Gigginstown House Stud.
Sandwiched in between the pair is the 134-rated Eight Till Late who is saddled by smaller trainer Francis Casey.
Alpha Des Obeaux looks the pick of the trio.
Formerly a high-class hurdler and chaser for Mouse Morris, the eight-year-old made a promising debut for Elliott when fifth in the Munster National at Limerick under a big weight.
He put up a strong defence of his crown in last week’s Clonmel Oil Chase before eventually succumbing to Kemboy, but a reproduction of that effort could well be enough to see him go one better seven days on.
Valseur Lido is well treated by the race conditions, but finished down the field in the Galway Plate on his latest outing during the summer and is without a win since the 2016 renewal of the JNwine.com Chase at Down Royal.
Racing begins with the Go Racing At Thurles (Mares) Beginners Chase, where connections of the Jessica Harrington-trained Forge Meadow will be hoping she can benefit from her seasonal and chase debut at Galway last month, where she finished third.
She was a Grade Three and Grade Two winner over hurdles and should outclass these rivals if she stands up.
The Joseph O’Brien-trained Los Alamos might be able to follow up a recent course and distance success in the I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF Rated Novice Hurdle, while Elliott’s hat-trick seeking Cold Shoulder must have every chance of defying top weight in the Hill Fabrication Handicap Hurdle.
