THE unbeaten Impaire Et Passe is expected to light up next weekend’s Fairyhouse Winter Festival when he reappears in the Grade 1 Bar One Racing Hatton’s Grace Hurdle.

Trained by Willie Mullins, the five-year-old son of Diamond Boy ran four times over hurdles last season, winning Grade 1 events at both the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals. Both of those races were over approximately two and a half miles, which is the distance of the Hatton’s Grace.

Likely opponents include last year’s winner Teahupoo for Gordon Elliott and his stable companions Irish Point and Sire Du Berlais.

Elliott said of Teahupoo: “He’s in great form, he’s doing really well. He will be in the Hatton’s Grace and Leopardstown (at Christmas) as well.

“If he improved five or six pounds from last year, which with age you would like to think he would have, he would have to be in the mix with all those stayers. Even last year he was in the mix and was unlucky in the Stayers’ Hurdle, he ran a great race.”

Of Sire Du Berlais, he said: “He’s so unimpressive at home, even to look at, he doesn’t do a stroke. He’s not getting any younger, but he’s a great horse and we’re lucky to have him. It’s hard to get him fit, it takes a couple of runs to get him fit, he’s so laid back.”

Irish Point made a winning return at Down Royal recently and Elliott said of him: “He’s probably a hard horse to place. He’s in the Hatton’s Grace and I wouldn’t be shocked if I went there with him.

“He could (go over three miles), but I just don’t know if I want to go three miles with him at the moment.

“He’s a good horse, but might just be stuck between a rock and a hard place. He might not have the pace for the really good two-mile races and I think he will stay three miles, but it’s whether I want to be doing it at this stage of his career or not, he’s only a young horse.”

The Hatton’s Grace is one of three Grade 1 races on the Sunday card, all sponsored by Bar One Racing. The first of the trio is the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, won last year by future Cheltenham hero Marine Nationale.

Among the 27 entries for the two-mile contest at this stage are Henry de Bromhead’s An Tobar, Gordon Elliott’s Down Memory Lane and Gavin Cromwell’s Encanto Bruno.

Elliott has a strong hand in the Drinmore Novice Chase with Found A Fifty and Imagine among his more likely runners. The Cromwell-trained Letsbeclearaboutit holds strong claims, as does multiple Grade 1-winning hurdler Sharjah, trained by Willie Mullins.

Last year’s Sunday card at Fairyhouse produced six Cheltenham Festival winners and 13 individual future Grade 1 winners.

Fairyhouse manager Peter Roe said: “The Saturday card promises to be very interesting too. Last year that day saw Facile Vega win one division of the maiden hurdle and Good Land unseated rider in the other division. I Am Maximus was beaten by a short-head in the beginners’ chase.

“This year we have a new Grade 3 hurdle for four-year-olds on the Saturday. It used to be the Fishery Lane at Naas and now it’s called the WillowWarm Hurdle. It wouldn’t surprise me if it attracted one or two of last season’s leading juveniles.”

WillowWarm, who also sponsor the Grade 1 Gold Cup for novice chasers at Fairyhouse’s Easter Festival, will present a pallet of their renewable briquettes to the winning trainer of each of the eight races on Saturday’s card.

Winter sun

Eagle-eyed racegoers may notice a change to the location of some fences and hurdles next weekend. Roe explained: “We always used to jump three fences heading up to Ballyhack and three across the top, but this year we are trying four up and two across the top to try to minimise the impact of low-lying sun. There will also be one extra hurdle heading up to Ballyhack and none across the top, leaving a long run, but at least we will be guaranteed to jump all the hurdles. We have worked with Brendan Sheridan and Barry Geraghty in seeking to do what is best for Fairyhouse and lessen the impact of winter sun.”

The Irish Racing Yearbook is sponsoring a ‘Performance of the Weekend’ award at Fairyhouse. It will be judged by Yearbook editor Daragh Ó Conchúir and will be won by either a trainer, jockey or stable staff member.

The winner will received an overnight stay for two people, with dinner, in the four-star Killashee Hotel in Naas.