Champion Hurdle talking horse Anzadam gets the chance to enhance his Cheltenham Festival claims in the Naas Racecourse Business Club Limestone Lad Hurdle on Sunday.
The French recruit made a real impression on his Irish debut at Fairyhouse in early December, with trainer Willie Mullins left to reflect on an “awesome performance” from a horse that “looks something special” following his dominant victory in the Grade Three WillowWarm Hurdle.
Mullins raised this weekend’s International Hurdle at Cheltenham as a possible next port of call in the aftermath, but the five-year-old instead remains on home soil for a race won by Espoir d’Allen en route to winning the Champion Hurdle six years ago.
Anzadam impresses on debut for the Mullins team in the WillowWarm Hurdle under Paul Townend!🚀@WillieMullinsNH | @PTownend pic.twitter.com/Njvq2EGP6Z
— FairyhouseRacecourse (@Fairyhouse) November 30, 2024
“Anzadam is a very interesting horse and we are all looking forward to seeing just how good he can be,” Mullins said at a press morning at his yard on Wednesday.
“There’s a nice race on Sunday he’s entered for. We had him as a juvenile and he hurt himself, he gave himself a bang somewhere and we couldn’t get him out.
“I was so disappointed. Even though we had Majborough in the Triumph Hurdle, Anzadam was right up there, so that’s the sort of company I’d put him with.”
Anzadam, who will face only two rivals in Gordon Elliott’s Beacon Edge and the Bill Durkan-trained Laafi, is a 10-1 shot with Paddy Power in a Champion Hurdle market that is expected to become much clearer by the end of next weekend.

The other Grade Three on Sunday’s Naas card is the Finlay Ford At Naas Novice Chase, which has attracted a quality field of five runners.
Mullins and Paul Townend team up with Dancing City, who won three Grade One novice hurdles last season and made a smart start to his career over fences at Punchestown last month, while Barry Connell is represented by Good Land.
The latter won at the highest level at the 2023 Dublin Racing Festival before missing the entirety of last season through injury. He made a promising comeback when third behind Il Atlantique on his chasing debut and was last seen finishing fourth behind another Mullins ace in Impaire Et Passe in the Grade One Faugheen Novice Chase at Limerick last month.
Connell said: “Dancing City is in it, I thought he’d be nearly favourite if he ran in the Grade One in Leopardstown next week and our horse wouldn’t be up to the standard.
“I thought the race on Sunday might cut up a bit more, but it’s actually a pretty decent contest.
“It was a very stop-start race in Limerick, which didn’t suit, and at his age I think he wants stepping up to three miles.
“If we get some place prize-money it will be grand and he’ll be eligible for a handicap mark after.”
Bioluminescence (Gavin Cromwell), Dee Capo (Elliott) and Fire Force (Ciaran Murphy) are the other hopefuls.