Willie Mullins has highlighted Hurricane Fly has a horse to follow this season and believes he should be capable of making his mark in some of the calendar's top novice hurdles.
The four-year-old showed smart form on the level for Jean-Claude Rouget in France, including when beating the top-class Literato in Listed company.
He has proved just as effective since switching his sights to obstacles, winning two of his three hurdling starts and finishing second in a Grade One event at Auteuil.
'Hurricane Fly has done well over hurdles so far and as we didn't run him until May, he still qualifies as a novice for this coming season which is handy,' said Mullins.
'All the top novice races in Ireland and England are open to him and I would imagine he could end up in something like the Ballymore Properties Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.'
Mullins also had news of some of his better known stable stars, although Grand National third Snowy Morning and smart hurdler Glencove Marina have yet to return to his County Carlow base.
'Snowy Morning will come back to me at the end of the month and he has being doing some light work at home already," continued Mullins.
'He will obviously have an entry in the Grand National at Aintree again, but I'm not sure where we will start him off just yet.
'Glencove Marina is recovering well, but he is just doing some walking and trotting at the moment so he is not back in full work just yet.'
Champion Bumper winner Cousin Vinny will be going over hurdles this year, while a couple of his classy stablemates may be sent over the larger obstacles for the first time.
'I'm looking forward to getting Cousin Vinny running over hurdles and he will be seen in the autumn sometime," said the trainer.
"The Supreme Novices' Hurdle looks the race for him at this stage, but it's a long way off.
'Ebaziyan has been schooled over fences and it seems to have helped him, so there is every chance he could go chasing this season.
'Fiveforthree hasn't schooled over fences yet, but he makes a good shape over a hurdle and is bred for chasing so that is the plan with him also.'
