Ballymore winner I'll Sort That to head straight to Cheltenham

January 20, 2026

Ballymore Novice Hurdle winner I’ll Sort That is set to head straight to the Cheltenham Festival.

The six-year-old, ridden and trained by west Waterford handler Declan Queally, hit the big time at Naas earlier this month with Grade 1 glory in Ireland’s first top-level contest of the calendar year.

I’ll Sort That powered up the hill at the Kildare venue with a game victory over Willie Mullins’ Sortudo, the pair well clear of the rest of the pack and now it’s on to bigger and better things.

According to the Press Association, Queally plans to skip the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown in favour of heading straight to Prestbury Park in March.

“He came out of Naas great, he’s in great form. We’ll probably skip the DRF and concentrate on Cheltenham, I’d say.

“Fingers crossed he has a trouble-free passage and gets there in one piece. He does stay well but he’s very versatile.

“If you go back and look at his win at Listowel, he showed an unbelievable amount of speed the whole way over two miles so I don’t think trip matters.

“There’s still a long way to go and we need a bit of luck but he’s in good shape at the moment anyway.”

The son of Sandmason received entries in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle and Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, a general 16/1 chance for both races.

I’LL SORT THAT ✅

Grade One glory for @Declanqueally in the Ballymore Novice Hurdle @NaasRacecourse 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Jlxi8tN2Zs

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 9, 2026

A €3,500 purchase as a three-year-old for David Needham, I’ll Sort That enjoyed a thoroughly progressive bumper campaign last year.

He beat Gordon Elliott’s Theflyingking at Fairyhouse last January before winning for a second time at Naas a month later and only found Sortudo too good on his final start of the season.

An easy winner of a maiden hurdle at Listowel in September, he took a big step forward when winning at Galway in October to earn a shot at a Graded prize.

I’ll Sort That justified 6/4 favouritism in the Grade 3 Bar One Racing For Auction Novice Hurdle at the Navan Racing Festival, confirming the form with the Theflyingking and battling back impressively under pressure despite being headed going over the last.

He’s only been beaten once over obstacles, coming on his first ever racecourse start in a maiden hurdle at Cork in December 2024 when 100/1 and out for a bit of experience.