SHARJAH will bid for a remarkable and record-breaking five wins in the Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown on Thursday but will need to reverse form with up-and-coming stablemate State Man to do so.

The Willie Mullins pair clashed in the Morgiana Hurdle and State Man ran out a comfortable winner on his first start in open company, picking up nicely before the straight which had his older stablemate in trouble, before he ran on late after the last.

Plenty of people will want to support Sharjah at Leopardstown and indeed at Christmas. He was even set to win the Grade 1 novice hurdle on his first run at this festival before a fall at the last, but curiously his four runs at the course at other times in the year have been below par.

Prices of 100/30 at the time of writing will appeal to some but really State Man needs to be beating him here to earn valid credibility as a Champion Hurdle contender at all, a tall ask this year of course.

Scope

A five-year-old, with six runs to his name, he has the scope to get better and you can see that in his jumping which his trainer referred to as not “Champion Hurdle class” but opined that he would be helped by a bigger field. It’s a long time since this race had a big field so it’s likely to be a similarly run contest to the Morgiana, and while Sharjah can get closer, State Man should be improving again.

Pied Piper is a likely runner as well but faces a tall ask as a four-year-old moving into the big leagues for the first time. He is a smooth traveller and he’ll be fine on the Leopardstown ground but may just struggle to go with the main contenders at this stage of his career.

Double

State Man’s owners, Joe and Marie Donnelly, could be set for a Grade 1 double because they have Gaillard Du Mesnil in the Neville Hotels Novice Chase earlier on the card. In truth this looks like a weak renewal and he could be a shade of odds-on come the day.

The seven-year-old gelding didn’t win last season, hence he can run as a novice this term which is contentious in itself, but he improved with each start, notably finishing third in the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham and again in the Irish Grand National.

His comeback run was very promising as though he did have an experience edge in the Drinmore, it was his seasonal debut and he was racing over a trip that might be on the sharp side for him. He could do with softer ground but still looks the one to beat in any case.

Minella Crooner is rated as the most likely to topple him. He was beaten by the mare Darrens Hope in the Grade 2 Florida Pearl on his chase debut before just touching off I Am Maximus in a Fairyhouse beginners’. That second run wasn’t much of, or at all an improvement on his first effort, but a step up to three miles will likely suit him and he was second in a Grade 1 novice hurdle at this track last season.

Elliott has a strong hand in the entries but Minella Crooner seems like the only one of his five horses you’d be confident will run, so this could break up and offer good place opportunities for some lower-graded horses.

Darrens Hope should run well again for Robert Murphy, while Gallant John Joe is interesting coming up to this trip for the first time over fences, having finished third in the Grade 1 two-mile-six-furlong novice hurdle here at the Dublin Racing Festival two seasons back.

The Grade 3 mares’ hurdle may well be provide a nice opportunity for Shewearsitwell who returned to winning ways in a Pertemps qualifier at Punchestown. However, if Queens Brook comes here, instead of her earlier engagement in the three-mile Grade 1, it should be a good match.

The novice handicap hurdle on the card looks a better betting heat. Watch out for Charles Byrnes’ Green Glory who could make his handicap hurdle debut here after four runs in maiden hurdles has seen him earn a mark of 111.

Needless to say, it will be well worth checking out the market for this race as early as possible with regard to his chances.