Elliott: Brighterdaysahead will improve in Irish Champion Hurdle

January 21, 2026

Gordon Elliott is expecting Brighterdaysahead to improve in the Irish Champion Hurdle next week.

Elliott confirmed earlier this month the plan was to go to the two-mile showpiece at Leopardstown’s Dublin Racing Festival on Sunday, January 1.

The mare will reoppose Willie Mullins’ Lossiemouth who narrowly got the better of her in the December Hurdle over Christmas, with just a length separating the pair in the finish.

The Meath handler is confident Brighterdaysahead will take a step forward from that effort but is unsure whether it’ll be enough to reverse the form.

He told At The Races: “She looks to have improved. Whether she’s good enough to beat Lossiemouth, I’m not saying that at all as Lossiemouth is very good, but she has improved and we are very happy with her.”

Elliott refused to rule out another Champion Hurdle bid at the Cheltenham Festival with the seven-year-old he describes as ‘the apple of my eye.’

Brighterdaysahead made her first appearance of the season at Christmas after meeting a small setback in the autumn when originally due to go over fences.

Her trainer mentioned that she stood in her box for three weeks in November as she recovered so to get as close as she did to Lossiemouth was an impressive feat.

There is little to separate the two rivals in the ante-post betting for the Irish Champion Hurdle with Lossiemouth at 11/10 and Brighterdaysahead at 6/4.

Lossiemouth wins a NINTH grade 1 🤯

Brighterdaysahead just CANNOT catch in the December Hurdle 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Es7yAyLzsc

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) December 29, 2025

Can Brighterdaysahead right the wrong of last year’s Champion Hurdle disappointment?

It’s no secret Elliott has taken a different approach to his training this year and ultimately Brighterdaysahead was never the same again after a Herculean performance in the 2024 December Hurdle, scuppering her chances of enjoying a successful spring.

This time around he’s desperate to make sure his string peak at the right time and so far they are showing all the positive signs.

There is a narrative that the horse simply doesn’t enjoy Cheltenham, well beaten in the Champion Hurdle a year after finishing second to Golden Ace in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle but she could be worth another chance.

You could most certainly argue there is value in her current price for the two-mile feature on the opening day of the Festival in March, a general 12/1 chance and if she wins at Leopardstown there’s every reason to believe that’s where she’ll go.

Keeping her sound is the most important variable and the Gigginstown flagbearer has incredible ability on side, paired with a jockey in Jack Kennedy who knows how to get the best out of the track.

The start to her 2024/25 campaign was nothing short of spectacular, downing Mullins’ former Champion Hurdle hero State Man twice before the new year.

If the team at Cullentra can save another career-best effort for Cheltenham, Brighterdaysahead will go over the water with a fantastic chance to prove she has what it takes.