Racing tips: Irish Champion Hurdle trends – we help you find the winner of the Leopardstown race live on ITV

SHARJAH can give Willie Mullins his seventh Irish Champion Hurdle in the past decade.

Finishing in the first three last time is a must in this classy contest with most winners having scored on their previous outing.

So we will overlook the hopes of Klassical Dream, Aramon and Ballycaines.

A run within the past couple of months is another important factor which accounts for Supasundae who has been off for much longer.

Almost all Irish Champion Hurdles have won over the two-mile distance which spells bad news for Darver Star.

We haven’t had a winner at bigger than 12-1 in recent memory which means Monsieur Lecoq and Saglawy have a mountain to climb, while Petit Mouchoir is teetering on the brink of being too big a price.

It’s no great shock to see this come down to a shootout between Honeysuckle and Sharjah.

There are two factors that make SHARJAH the pick on the trends.

Firstly, Honeysuckle is rated 158 by the official handicapper, which make her the lowest ranked winner since Sizing Europe in 2008.

Then there’s the Mullins factor to consider. The champ has claimed six of the past nine runnings of this — largely down to Hurricane Fly.

That means he knows exactly what it takes to win and he can land another big pot.

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