Timeless Sash Windows Irish Champion Hurdle
Grade 1, Leopardstown 15:20
€200,000 guaranteed
4yo plus,
2m, Class 1  
Sunday 1st February 2026

1 Brighterdaysahead 11/4
2 Lossiemouth 4/6F
3 Poniros 33/1
5 ran NR: Casheldale Lad
Distances: 3¼l, 11l, ½l Time: 4m 4.20s (slow by 14.20s)

Brighterdaysahead provided a compelling sequel to their December meeting as she reversed form with Lossiemouth, delivering a performance full of grit and authority.

Lossiemouth, trained by Willie Mullins, had held sway when the pair first clashed in Leopardstown’s December Hurdle and was sent off the 4-6 favourite to confirm that verdict at the Dublin Racing Festival. On this occasion, though, the balance tipped the other way.

Brighterdaysahead, available at 11-4, was always likely to step forward from her seasonal reappearance, that outing coming after an autumn setback, and she duly did so under a confident ride from Jack Kennedy to settle the score.

El Fabiolo, a stablemate of the favourite, ensured a solid gallop as he led the five runners for much of the two-mile trip. Brighterdaysahead was never far away, tracking the pace closely, while Lossiemouth raced in third and Paul Townend appeared less than comfortable on the market leader as they moved down the back straight.

When El Fabiolo dropped away, Lossiemouth did briefly threaten to claw back the advantage as they swung for home. But in the demanding conditions it was Brighterdaysahead who found more, Gordon Elliott’s mare pulling clear to score by three and a quarter lengths.

Elliott said: “We knew she had improved from the last day, whether she was good enough to beat Lossiemouth we weren’t sure.

“Jack had a plan that if nobody was going to make it we were going to make it. She’s very very tough and she stays.

“It’s great to be involved in these races and to win them is extra special. I was so nervous coming to the last, just thinking ‘I hope she jumps it’.

“Lossiemouth is a superstar and our one is a superstar as well. We’re lucky to have her.”

Brighterdaysahead now sits as the 5-2 joint favourite with Coral for the Champion Hurdle alongside Dan Skelton’s The New Lion, having been cut from 9-2. Lossiemouth is priced at 11-4 for that contest and remains the 5-4 favourite to land a third Mares’ Hurdle instead.

“All you have to do is look at her. She’s gorgeous, she’d take the eye out of your head,” Elliott went on.

“The plan was to go chasing this year but Michael (O’Leary) put his foot down. He said that half the season was gone and so right he was, he normally is right.”

Townend was frank in defeat, saying of Lossiemouth: “I was never comfortable on her. It surprised me that I actually got in with a chance at any stage. Everything was hard work today.”

BoyleSports

Irish Champion Hurdle
2m, €200,000 guaranteed
5 ran
Going: Heavy

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    Brighterdaysahead 7 11-5 Gordon Elliott Jack Kennedy 11/4
2 3¼ Lossiemouth 7 11-5 W P Mullins Paul Townend 4/6F
3 11 Poniros 5 11-12 W P Mullins Danny Mullins 33/1
4 ½ Anzadam 6 11-12 W P Mullins Harry Cobden 8/1
5 6 El Fabiolo 9 11-12 W P Mullins J J Slevin 8/1
NR Casheldale Lad 6 11-12 Gordon Elliott NON RUNNER