Iberico Lord supplemented for Champion Hurdle
Iberico Lord has been supplemented for the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
The prospect of soft ground on Tuesday compared to the County Hurdle on Friday plus the obvious omission of Constitution Hill have led to connections putting up the £18,000 fee.
The JP McManus-owned Iberico Lord has a 3-7 record over hurdles, winning the Greatwood Hurdle on soft ground at Cheltenham in November and the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on heavy ground last month.
Henderson said: “He is obviously a very progressive young horse that keeps improving having won the Greatwood and Betfair Hurdle. He loves soft ground, which it seems that it might well be on Tuesday, and therefore possibly not too soft on Friday when he was originally intended to run in the County Hurdle.
“With the unfortunate defection of Constitution Hill, the race has a different complexion and so he is due to join Luccia in the line-up.”
Iberico Lord was introduced into the Champion Hurdle market at around 16-1.
There were 11 other confirmations for the Champion Hurdle, including Irish Point and Lossiemouth, with the latter also confirmed for the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle on the opening day.
Last year’s second State Man heads the betting having racked up four Grade 1 wins since his defeat in the race. He most recently landed a second Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival last month.
Six horses were not confirmed for the Champion Hurdle – Fils D’Oudairies, First Street, Gala Marceau, Guard Your Dreams, Under Control and Zanahiyr.
