The connections of Maria’s Benefit, one of many leading fancies for next month’s Cheltenham Festival to have graduated from the Irish point-to-point fields, will have undoubtedly breathed a collective sigh of relief following an injury scare.
To the fore in the market with most firms for the Trull House Stud Dawn Run mares’ novices hurdle at the Festival, the general 5/1 shot was reported to have suffered some heat in her knee following her latest success at Doncaster.
However, her trainer Stuart Edmunds has since alieved many fears over her potential participation in the Grade 2 contest by reporting that she has been given the all clear by vets, and the Buckinghamshire-based trainer now expects to step-up her preparation efforts in the build-up to the 2m 1f race which takes place on the third day of the famous festival.
The Beneficial mare had started off her career at James Doyle’s Baltimore Stables in county Wexford, and it was for Doyle that the Charlie Carter-bred mare won a four-year-old mares’ maiden at Dromahane on her debut, before being sold to current connections at the Cheltenham sales.
The six-year-old will be out to extend her remarkable winning run which has seen her notch up five successive victories over hurdles culminating in last month's win in the Grade 2 Yorkshire Rose mares' hurdle at Doncaster - her biggest success to date.
What a gutsy performance from Maria's Benefit who grinds out the win in the Grade 2 Yorkshire Rose Mares' Hurdle at @DoncasterRaces: pic.twitter.com/JbnhZVySZB
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 27, 2018
