Like this time last year, Dessie Hughes has gotten off to a fine start to the National Hunt season. A total of 20 winners to date means that one of Ireland’s top trainers is on course to beat last year’s tally of 36 winners.

“We’ve had a nice start and a good run so far but we’d be hoping that things will pick up a gear from now on”, said Dessie ahead of a busy weekend, which saw the Hughes team well represented in the three graded races at Navan on Sunday.

“Sunday is a big day but we’ll be getting stronger from now on and we’ve a good team here this year. We’re a little bit up on last year, with about 70 horses, and it’s a team I’m very pleased with. We’ve a stronger team this year and we’re definitely hoping for a good year”.

Speaking last Thursday week, not long after getting the news that stable jockey Roger Loughran had dislocated a shoulder following a final fence fall on Well Oiled at Thurles, an injury which is likely to leave the jockey on the sidelines until Christmas, Dessie said:

“It’s a bit of a blow but he’ll be back and at least the horse is alright. We have a nice blend of jockeys here and we’ll have Paddy Flood and Ian McCarthy riding the majority of our horses. Paddy Kennedy will ride our bumper horses and on the big days, we’ll use the best around too with the likes of Ruby (Walsh) and Barry (Geraghty), who have ridden for us before”.

HARDY EUSTACE: “He’s ready to go and he was due to start off his season at Navan last Sunday in the Lismullen Hurdle but the ground changed that. We decided not to give him a run on the Flat this year for a couple of reasons but he’s ready to rock and we’re very pleased with him. He starts off now in the Maplewood Developments Hurdle at Punchestown this weekend and he’s been working as well as ever and is very much himself.

“Where he goes after Sunday depends on how he runs in the Maplewood Developments Hurdle but should he run well, then we’ll go for the Hatton’s Grace with him at Fairyhouse at the end of the month. There is the Ascot Hurdle, which he won last year, but that could be a hot race this year and it may also come a little quick for him as it’s on next Saturday. He’ll certainly be entered for that race anyway but we’ll more than likely wait for the Hatton’s Grace. The 2m4f trip looks ideal for him.

“With him being 11-years-old now, it’s very much a case of taking one race at a time with him this season. We think he’s as good as ever but time will tell and Paddy (Flood) rides him on Sunday and will take over from Conor now. I would love more than anything to win another Grade 1 with him this season and hopefully he can”.

SCHINDLERS HUNT: “He also ran at Navan on Sunday after having a pipe-opener over hurdles at Naas last month. That run was just to blow away the cobwebs and he’s come on for it. We’ll probably go for the John Durkan Memorial Chase next with him at Punchestown.

“He’ll run in all the top 2m and 2m4f chases and in fact, we might keep him to 2m as much as we can because those races could be a little easier to win this season. Eventually, we’ll step him up to 3m and we’ll also look at some races in England with him this season. He might be a ‘King George’ horse but not this season and the long term plan will be the Ryanair Chase. He’s been a great horse for us and we’ve always had high hopes of him”.

RARE BOB: “He also ran last weekend and while the 2m4f trip in the beginners chase at Navan on Sunday probably suited him better, we decided to run him at Naas on Saturday as the Navan race had the likes of Aran Concerto running in it and he looks a very good horse.

“My lad ran a blinder at Punchestown against Trafford Lad on his first run this season and it’s very hard to believe how he lost the race. The same thing happened at Cork last Sunday in a different race when the placings were reversed so it’s seems to be happening a lot these days.

“I was very happy with how he jumped at Punchestown and we have always thought he was going to make a very good horse over fences. We’ll aim him at all the top novice races this season and I think he could be one of the best novice chasers around this season”.

JUSTPOURIT: “He had his first run back at Thurles a couple of weeks ago and I was pleased with that performance. He’s going to be a hard horse to place this season as he’s not good enough for the top races and he’s pretty high in the handicap for the handicap chases.

“He’s a horse who nearly always runs to his mark and is a very consistent horse to have. He wants good ground so he probably won’t be seen at his best until the spring, unless we have a dry winter, but we’ll probably send him for the Troytown Chase at Navan next. The Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas may suit him also”.

SHIRLEY CASPER: “She’s a fabulous mare and we have her now after she has had spells with Philip Fenton and Eddie O’Grady. We started her off at Navan on Sunday in the For Auction Novices’ Hurdle and we’ll take it from there with her now.

“She was a very good bumper horse and our main aim will be to get some black type with her this season. Going down the mares route will be an option but we think she might be good enough to take on the big boys in all the good novice hurdles this season too. She has plenty of options and she’s one of the best novice hurdlers we have this season. She’ll come on for the run after last Sunday”.

OULART: “He’s a great horse for us and it was great to finally win with him over fences at Kilbeggan during the summer. He’s a great fun horse for his owners and he’ll run in all the staying handicap chases this season.

“We’ll probably head for the Troytown Chase at Navan with him next and take it from there. He seems to go on all types of ground but his best form is on better ground and hopefully we can win another race with him this season”.

BLACK APALACHI: “He disappointed at Cork on his first run back but perhaps he may have needed that run and we’ll go for the Becher Chase with him now at Aintree. The Grand National is the long term aim with him and everything will be geared towards that race with him. He seems in good form at the moment.

Following the chance to prove his wellbeing after a troubled passage with injuries, former Hennessy Gold Cup winner Strong Flow has been retired but one horse who is on the comeback trail following a spell on the sidelines is First Row, who Hughes reports to be “coming along nicely and will hopefully run before Christmas”.

The one-time Triumph Hurdle hope will be sent straight back over fences in a bid to add to his three chasing wins so far.

Crack mare Grangeclare Lark has been retired to the breeding paddocks following an injury incurred last season while Dosco is another horse set to endure a spell on the sidelines after hurting his pelvis in a run a couple of weeks ago.

Along with Rare Bob, the Osbourne Lodge team could be well represented on the novice chasing front this season with Deal Maker likely to start over fences soon and is a horse who has “schooled well” according to his trainer while Hughes is expecting Well Oiled to win a beginners’ chase soon following his final fence fall at Thurles last Thursday when he looked booked for third place.

Recent Thurles winner Siegemaster will be seen next in the Grade 3 Florida Pearl Novice Chase at Punchestown this weekend and this two-times winner, who was also fourth in the Albert Bartlett Spa Novices’ Hurdle at last season’s Cheltenham Festival, is a “good genuine horse” according to his trainer.

Another of the novice chasers Old Si should also be winning this season and is described as a “nice horse who is better than his last run”. Jimmy Ber, who runs in the same colours as Hardy Eustace, will be another for the novice chase sphere this coming season.

Of the small but select novice hurdlers team at Osbourne Lodge, Sarteano is regarded as “one of our best” according to Hughes and following his recent win at Down Royal, he’s likely to go to Fairyhouse next at the end of the month for a 2m novice hurdle and is a horse “who won’t have a problem getting 2m4f either.”

The Rall is another of the novice hurdling contingent who is a “good ground horse and is probably capable of a bit more”.

And should things not work in favour of the Hughes team over the coming months, well then he is likely to be forced to revert to plan B with the likes of Lyceum, Laura’s Light, Mr. Anderson, and Montero having all been put away now until the spring due to their liking for their preferred better ground.

And of the less exposed team in Hughes’ yard, there are plenty already showing promise, the one who has caught his trainer’s eye is the six-year-old Lenabane, who put up a notable display when finishing second to the highly-regarded Fisher Bridge in a novice hurdle at Punchestown last month. And he’s also a half-brother to the great Moscow Flyer.

BIG RACE WINNER: HARDY EUSTACE – Still showing all the signs at home which has seen him win over €1 million in prize money, along with six Grade 1 races. Would ‘mean the world’ to his trainer to land another Grade 1 with the dual champion hurdler over the coming months.

DARK HORSE – LENABANE – A half-brother to the great Moscow Flyer, this son of Luso showed plenty of promise when second on his only start this season in a competitive novice hurdle at Punchestown. Is likely to be kept over hurdles for the time being but has the makings of an exciting chaser.

Robert