SNOW FAIRY has got the ground conditions she loves for Saturday's clash with So You Think in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, and, while Ed Dunlop is under no illusions about the fact that our globe-trotting superstar has a mountain to climb, he, like the filly, has always relished a challenge.
Ed said:"Snow Fairy has given us some magical moments over the last couple of seasons, including three memorable 'away' victories at The Curragh, in Japan and Hong Kong, so we are used to having our backs against the wall."
"Obviously, this was not Plan A - it is actually Plan C after both York and Deauville were aborted - but it has been a strange year, what with having to come back from Dubai without a run after she got injured just before the Sheema Classic and then having no option but to pull out of the Pretty Polly Stakes in Ireland when The Curragh was hit by a monsoon."
"However, we have finally got our ground, and, while So You Think beat us more than nine lengths in the Eclipse, we needed that race badly and Snow Fairy is definitely a lot straighter now. She was fitter when she went to Goodwood for the Nassau Stakes, but, though Midday beat us fair and square, we were still not quite there, and Frankie (Dettori) got off and assured us that she would improve again."
"Snow Fairy's subsequent homework suggests that she has come on again since Goodwood, and, while it will be tough taking on a high-class colt like So You Think on his home patch, there are not that many opportunities left in Europe, and we are lucky to have sporting owners who are all for giving it a go."