Brandy back in action at Punchestown

PA Sport Reporters
February 21, 2023 11:57 am

Mares’ Hurdle contender returns in Grade Three contest.

Leading Cheltenham Festival contender Brandy Love will return from 10 months off the track in the Quevega Mares Hurdle at Punchestown on Wednesday.

The seven-year-old will be a hot favourite to make a successful reappearance in a Grade Three contest Willie Mullins has farmed in recent years, with six of the last seven winners hailing from Closutton.

Brandy Love, who not been seen in competitive action since slamming Cheltenham Festival heroine Love Envoi in the Grade One Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final at Fairyhouse in April, will sport new colours on her comeback having been snapped up by Gold Cup-winning owners Joe and Marie Donnelly.

She is a 7-2 chance with Paddy Power to provide Mullins with a 10th victory in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and those odds are sure to contract further if she can make a winning return in a race that has previously won by the likes of Annie Power (2016), Limini (2017) and Laurina (2019).

BRANDY LOVE wins the @IrishEBF_ Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final! 🐎
She may not be straightforward, but @WillieMullinsNH‘s classy mare is too good for her rivals in the Grade One contest @Fairyhouse under @PTownend, with Love Envoi a gallant second! pic.twitter.com/VAROZksWh0

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 17, 2022

The biggest threat to Brandy Love in the Racing TV-sponsored contest appears to be the Gordon Elliott-trained Queens Brook, who was last seen chasing home another high-class Mullins mare in Shewearsitwell at Leopardstown in December.

John McConnell’s Scottish Champion Hurdle winner Anna Bunina also merits consideration off the back of finishing fourth to Gaelic Warrior in a competitive handicap hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Declan Queally’s pair of My Design and Robyndeglory, the Stuart Crawford-trained Ailie Rose and Rebel Ivy from James Motherway’s yard complete the field.