Dark doubtful for Irish Champion Testing conditions could rule Won In The Dark out of Sunday's Toshiba Irish Champion Hurdle with trainer Sabrina Harty concerned about the prospect of heavy ground. The five-year-old ran a cracker when chasing home Sublimity on a yielding surface at the Dublin venue in the Leopardstown December Festival Hurdle and Harty feels that softer conditions are against him. "We are leaving him in and we'll see what the weather forecast is," said Harty. "We would like to run as he's in great form and is fresh in himself but we wouldn't like to run on soft or heavy ground. He wouldn't be competitive on heavy ground. "I'm also looking at Sandown on the 31st (The totepool Contenders Hurdle) and at the Redmills Hurdle (Gowran Park February 14th). We could have a look at those and see what the ground is like."
