07 February 2023 , 08:40
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Honeysuckle will not defend her Champion Hurdle crown at Cheltenham after connections announced she would have the final start of her illustrious career in the Mares’ Hurdle at the Festival instead.
The brilliant mare was beaten for the second time this season, and only the second time in her career, when runner-up to State Man in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday, a race she had won in the previous three years.
Immediate retirement was also being considered by owner Kenny Alexander and trainer Henry de Bromhead.
But 48 hours on Peter Molony, on behalf of Alexander, announced on Twitter that Honeysuckle would have “one last hurrah” next month in the race immediately following the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
“Barring accidents, injury, illness or extremes of ground she will be prepared for another tilt at The Close Brothers Mares Hurdle,” he said.
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Honeysuckle won the Mares’ Hurdle in 2020, going on to establish a sequence of 16 wins in a row, 12 at Grade 1 level.
She helped jockey Rachael Blackmore become the first female rider to win a championship race at the Cheltenham Festival with her triumph in the 2021 Champion Hurdle and last year she became the first mare to win a second edition of the race.
A tilt at a third Champion Hurdle had been open to doubt since December when the nine-year-old suffered the first defeat of her career in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle.
The challenge of securing a third Champion’s crown, where the new superstar of the sphere Constitution Hill would be among the opposition, looked even starker after her gallant run at Leopardstown.
Honeysuckle is now 9-4 favourite for the Mares’ Hurdle with William Hill who have cut Constitution Hill to 1-4 for the Champion Hurdle.