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Robert Murphy has a couple of Christmas options available for his valuable mare Darrens Hope, but she will not run if conditions are not suitable.

Murphy owns and trains the eight-year-old, but he is in no rush to get her back on the track if the ground goes against her.

She has raced 36 times, winning six times and scooping Grade Three honours over hurdles at Limerick in the spring of 2021.

However, her best win to date was at Punchestown last month when she defeated Gordon Elliott's smart Minella Crooner by a head in the Grade Two novice event.

Darrens Hope went off at 20/1 and the form has since been franked when Elliott's charge scored at Fairyhouse recently, beating Willie Mullins' favourite I Am Maximus by a short head.

Murphy is plotting a tilt in the Dawn Run Mares Novice Chase (Limerick, December 28) – in which Darrens Hope finished second to Concertista 12 months ago – and the Grade One Neville Hotels Novice Chase at Leopardstown (December 29) as options for a festive outing, providing there is adequate ease in the ground.

He said: "I don't know where for sure she'll go just yet, but she has the option of Leopardstown or Limerick if the ground is right. If the ground is not right she won't run, though.

"There is no panic after winning her Grade Two over fences and there will be plenty of races for her later in the year, so I'm not panicking at the moment. She will be a valuable mare for breeding, so I want to mind her a little.

"We were hoping she would win a good chase and now we're hoping she'll win another one if everything goes right, so we just need to mind her now and pick the right race. She's been a star for me, a very good mare.

"I would say we will be going for the Graded races and if she runs over Christmas it could be the Grade Two mares' chase at Limerick or the Grade One at Leopardstown – the ground might be too fast for her there, though."