2012 World Series Hurdle at Punchestown Preview

 A mere seven contenders are set to challenge hurdling superstar Quevega as the chase-less Punchestown Festival continues to slog on through the Irish rain. For the second day in a row, all chase action was cancelled due to excessively watery conditions and relatively high winds. The scenes from yesterday of horses pounding down waterlogged turf made for some interesting racing and, thankfully, all contenders came home safely.

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Despite the conditions, the hurdles contests are all set to unfold while the chases may have to wait until Saturday, if they are to be run at all.

The Ladbrokes World Series Hurdle has been one of the features of this meeting for quite some time and this year we've got a mare set to take on some very accomplished Grade 1 winners. It is testament to the quality displayed by Quevega that only seven will attempt to take her on.

Quevega will be looking to defend her title that she picked up last year. It set the stage for a triumphant 2011/12 season with scores at Grade 2 and a Grade 1 at Fairyhouse. She then went on to capture her fourth Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham on the bounce.

She will be forced to deal with a resurgent Voler La Vedette, who could only finish a tame fourth last year in this race. She ran a very credible second to Big Buck's in the World Hurdle and that improvement was such that many feel she could be capable of toppling Quevega.

Currently, the bookmakers have Voler La Vedette listed as the firm second favourite to Quevega with a 5/2 price tag available. The betting favourite will go off at around 4/5 or lower.

Mikael D'Haguenet, Mourad, Get Me Out of Here and Berties Dream are all remaining in the mix while What A Charm, Won In The Dark and Whatuthink round out the field.