Is the Mares’ Hurdle the right race for Honeysuckle?

Speak up now for a smaller spectacle

No, unfortunately I cannot accept that. I’ve never owned a racehorse so I might come off as a bit insensitive here, but I’m not sure I appreciate some of the rhetoric surrounding this nine-year-old mare with 18 career starts.

Once the connections start using phrases like “I want to take care of her” and seemingly plotting how to end her racing career on a high, then the goal of high-level competition is dashed. It’s raceable or it’s not. And while the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle has Grade 1 status, the Champion Hurdle does not. It’s not that she didn’t manage to finish either, obviously she can still be competitive and that’s the key.

She easily won the Unibet Champion Hurdle in 2021 and followed up last March. It’s probably past its peak now and they look at it and think there’s no way they can beat State Man let alone Constitution Hill this spring, but you really need past champions to take on the current stars and it’s me no matter how many people are now looking forward to a quality edition of the Mares’ Hurdle, the championship race on day one of the festival will be less of a spectacle in the absence of Honeysuckle. Matt Brocklebank

The Irish champion proved she is no longer the best in the division

A clash between Honeysuckle and Constitution Hill at last year’s Punchestown Festival would have been a riveting match – the undefeated doubles hurdles champion versus the up-and-coming hurdler who had the best performance by a hurdler in Timeform history at the Supreme. However, a lot of water has run under the bridge since last spring.

Two long-range victories at Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdle have cemented the view that Constitution Hill is an extraordinarily talented two-mile fighter, while two losses for Honeysuckle have shown she’s not quite the old force – something her owner Kenny recognized Alexander recognized after the race.

The nine-year-old’s two performances this season were a stone worse than what she had shown at her peak two seasons ago, according to Timeform, and there seemed little excuse for her loss to State Man at the Irish hurdles champion on Sunday. She was typically brave and stuck to her task to hold onto second place, but the writing was on the wall shortly after conceding, and it’s hard to imagine her undoing that comprehensive four-and-three-quarter loss to State Man could do, forget dealing with Constitution Hill.

Sunday’s race showed that she is no longer top of the class – and I don’t think further confirmation in the Champion Hurdle is needed, especially when her presence contributes so much to Mares’ Hurdle.

It’s understandable that connections want her to go on a high at Cheltenham and she clearly has a much better chance at the Mares than the champion but it’s not a penalty with some intelligent and improving rivals in the opposition and that it will be exciting to see if she can bid farewell with a win. Anyway, that fascination is gone for me when it comes to how she might do at the champion hurdle. Tony McFadden

Correct call – but may it be?

If I were Henry De Bromhead and Kenny Alexander in the current situation they are in, I would run them in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle as well. She has been usurped by State Man and Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle Division and her best hopes for Cheltenham glory are undoubtedly mares.

But should she even be allowed to walk in it? It just so happens that a 160 mare like Honeysuckle doesn’t get a penalty when a 150+ opponent like Epatante and possibly Marie’s Rock is against her.

But it won’t always be like that. Some years a 160 mare might compete with 20lbs in hand and that’s not the kind of spectacle the Cheltenham Festival wants to encourage. This should be a warning sign. There is an option to make it a grade 2 with a cap of 150 reviews. Just like an open handicap grade 3 – if the good guys want to carry the weight, then so be it.

And if you want to go your Grade 1 recognition in the champion corral or the mare allowance stayers, the competition would be healthier all round.

Honeysuckle was a wonderful racer and a second career as a broodmare is imminent. But I would have liked to have seen her over a fence. Ben Linfoot

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