Harry Fry confirmed yesterday that Unowhatimeanharry, the beaten Stayers’ Hurdle favourite and 2016 Albert Bartlett champion, will skip a showdown with Yanworth in the Liverpool Hurdle and head to the Punchestown Festival instead.
Everyone in the horse racing world will have been looking forward to a stunning showdown between Yanworth and Unowhatimeanharry in the Liverpool Hurdle on Saturday afternoon. Both are looking to bounce back quickly from underwhelming performances at the Cheltenham Festival, with Alan King and J.P. McManus deeming the time right to push Yanworth up to three miles for the first time.
Sadly, this clash of the titans has been put on ice, for this season at least, as Unowhatimeanharry’s trainer, Harry Fry confirmed that Unowhatimeanharry will bypass the festivities at Aintree and head to the Punchestown Festival at the end of the month.
“We just decided the ground was going to come up too quick for him at Aintree.” Fry told Sky Sports yesterday afternoon. “He will now go to Punchestown for the three-mile Grade One there. That is the plan, all being well.”
This news means Irish racegoers will be treated to a replay of the Stayers’ Hurdle in their equivalent race, as Unowhatimeanharry looks for revenge over Lil Rockerfeller and Cheltenham champion, Nichols Canyon.
Yanworth will be left to battle it out with former Stayers’ Hurdle winner, Cole Harden, last year’s Sefton winner, Ballyoptic and maybe even Coral Cup winner, Supasundae, who could be sent to England by Jessica Harrington, in search of a second major Festival title in a row.
