Whatcouldhavebeen to contest Thursday's Stayers Hurdle Recent Fairyhouse festival winner Whatcouldhavebeen will step back into Grade 1 company at Punchestown on Thursday where the Jarlath Fahey-trained mare contests the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle. Whatcouldhavebeen has already finished second at the top-level, in the Honeysuckle Mares Novice Hurdle at the 2023 Fairyhouse Easter festival, and notched her fourth career winner on April 1. The six-year-old mare has a revised rating of 137 and is set to meet Cheltenham's Stayers Hurdle winner Teahupoo on Thursday, with her trainer Jarlath Fahey saying "Whatcouldhavebeen will run in the Stayers' Hurdle. We were debating between that and the mares' race and we decided to avoid Lossiemouth. She is probably one of the better horses that is going to show up there. "We said we would take our 7lb off against the geldings and take our chance. "She is off a very similar mark to Jennies Jewel who finished second for us in the stayers' a few years ago (in 2016), so if we could do anything near the same we would be delighted." Quotes from Michael Graham
