Fighting Fifth hero Not So Sleepy to head straight to Champion Hurdle

Not So Sleepy, who shared the spoils with Epatante in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle in November, will head straight to the Unibet Champion Hurdle on the back of a below-par effort at Kempton.

The Hughie Morrison-trained ten-year-old concluded last of five to Epatante in the Christmas Hurdle on December 26, having dead-heated with the 2020 Champion Hurdle winner to gain a first top-level success at Newcastle.

A nine-time winner from 55 starts, Not So Sleepy finished fifth in last season’s Champion Hurdle at 125-1 and Morrison is hoping for another good show by using the coming weeks to freshen up his jumping stable star.

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Not So Sleepy had a similar break before the Cheltenham Festival last season.

Having gone consecutive to the Champion Hurdle following his Grade 3 Betfair Exchange Trophy win over Buzz at Ascot in December 2020.

Morrison said: “He’s extremely well and obviously doesn’t think much of Kempton! He had a very hard race at Newcastle before the Christmas Hurdle and we’ll try to freshen him up now and head straight to the Champion Hurdle.

“He ran really well in the race last year and hopefully he can do better in this season’s renewal.

“I don’t see a lot of change in terms of the strength of the division, so if he gets his favoured soft ground and is on his A-game, I wouldn’t be surprised if he finished third or fourth. He’s a Grade 1 winner now, so we have to keep trying at the highest level.”

The Lady Blyth-owned runner is 66-1 for the Champion Hurdle with Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power, with the market headed by last year’s winner Honeysuckle at 4-5.