Fairyhouse Tips On Sunday: Three tips on Hatton's Grace Hurdle day

There's a stellar card at Fairyhouse this Sunday as reigning Champion Hurdle heroine Honeysuckle makes her return in the Hatton's Grace Hurdle, while the Drinmore Novice Chase and Royal Bond Novice Hurdle are the two other Grade 1 contests. Our in-house tipsters previews all three races here and picks out his best bets...

13:25 Fairyhouse - Bar One Racing Royal Bond Novice Hurdle

With nine wins in this Grade 1 contest, Willie Mullins has been the dominant figure and he will unleash another smart pair in this year's event and all eyes will be on current race favourite Champ Kiely, who remains unbeaten after three starts. A clear winner over Fred Winter hero Brazil last time out, that Closutton inmate sets the standard.

However, available at double-figured odds, at the time of writing, the Mullins second string HERCULE DU SEUIL has been hugely progressive over hurdles since breaking his duck over timber at the third time of asking, and he was always doing enough last time out at Navan. The five-year-old has racked up back-to-back wins in recent months, so heads to Fairyhouse in fine fettle, but will need a lot more to land this prize. He maybe the one that slips under the radar here and he can at least make the frame for punters in the first Grade 1 of the day.

13:55 Fairyhouse - Bar One Racing Drinmore Novice Chase

There's field full of potential lining up in the Grade 1 Drinmore Novice Chase at 13:55 and several running in this event could be seen competing in the Turners Novices' Chase or Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Gordon Elliott's classy duo of Three Stripe Life and Mighty Potter along with the Joseph O'Brien-trained Banbridge are all battling it out for favouritism, but it's the latter of those three that makes most appeal.

An impressive Grade 2 winner at Cheltenham last month, BANBRIDGE, who ended last season with a sparkling win in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, shaped with real promise over fences and looked like he could be a real top notch novice chaser this season. He steps up in trip for this event, but that shouldn't be a problem as he bagged festival glory over two-and-a-half in the Martin Pipe. He was extremely slick over his jumps and having shown a real class about him so far in his fledgling career then he can make it three out of three over fences.

14:30 Fairyhouse - Bar One Racing Hatton's Grace Hurdle

Reigning Champion Hurdle heroine Honeysuckle will bid for a record-breaking fourth win on the bounce in the Hatton's Grace Hurdle at 14:30 and the Henry De Bromhead-trained superstar, who remains unbeaten, is unsurprisingly a red-hot favourite for the 2022 renewal at Fairyhouse. A sparkling winner of the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in the Spring, Honeysuckle will look to reign supreme once again in this contest and it's hard to look past her.

In terms of a potential bet then it's worth looking in the each-way markets and the Willie Mullins-trained ECHOES IN RAIN, who was last seen finishing second in the Irish Cesarewitch, will take his chance back over hurdles. Last seen over timber finishing second to Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival, the Mullins raider is going to struggle to challenge Honeysuckle, but could easily be better than most of her rivals here and can grab a top-three berth.