Ben Linfoot on the Grade 1 Savills Chase at Leopardstown including 1-2-3 verdict

Feature written prior to Fastorslow's withdrawal on account of the ground

Schedule tweak makes for top-class Savills

The Grade 1 Savills Chase at Leopardstown on Thursday has benefitted this year from the decision to run the Grade 1 John Durkan Chase at Punchestown two weeks earlier than normal. Well done everyone.

For all that the Leopardstown festive highlight often delivers – think Beef Or Salmon’s hat-trick of wins, Best Mate coming over for victory one year and some Paul Carberry goading the next, The Listener’s jumping masterclass, Paul Nicholls’ raids with Denman, What A Friend and Tidal Bay, and A Plus Tard’s last-gasp victory – some good horses have skipped this race because of its proximity to Punchestown’s December meeting.

There’s usually a break of about 15 days between the John Durkan and the Savills, but this year the gap is 32 and that means the top three from the Punchestown contest – Fastorslow, Appreciate It and Galopin Des Champs – are all here and ready to roll.

It also seems Storm Gerrit was the perfect storm, for Leopardstown at least, as over 30mm of rain has fallen on the track in the last 24 hours meaning the chase course is now soft, lessening the chance of non-runners due to faster than ideal ground for the time of year.

The upshot is an exceptional renewal, complete with eight staying chasers rated 160 or higher, the John Durkan trio joined by two previous Savills winners, the new kid on the block in Gerri Colombe and more Grade 1 winners like Envoi Allen and I Am Maximus, who could have their say despite their big prices in a deep renewal.

What to expect from Galopin Des Champs?

It must be significant that Willie Mullins has deviated from his original plan to come here with Galopin Des Champs.

The ultimate creature of habit, Mullins went from the John Durkan to the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival with Galopin Des Champs last season before his Cheltenham Gold Cup win, and when he established the blueprint for his previous Gold Cup winner, Al Boum Photo, he didn’t flinch in sticking to the script.

Perhaps the two defeats at Punchestown to Fastorslow have somewhat backed him into a corner, but it’s hard to believe that Galopin Des Champs has regressed to the level he showed in this year’s John Durkan considering his high-performance level at the height of the last campaign, even if the Cheltenham Gold Cup has perhaps left a mark on him.

Mullins will have left something to work on and the return to three miles looks the significant factor for Galopin here, with the return to left-handed Leopardstown also in his favour.

He will have to jump better than he did last time, there is no doubt, but the trip can help him on that score and it’s with hope that he returns to the sort of form that saw him win the Irish Gold Cup at this track last February.

Is Fastorslow underrated again?

Martin Brassil’s Fastorslow was 20/1 to beat Galopin Des Champs at the Punchestown Festival and he did, and he was 9/1 to beat him in the John Durkan, and he did.

The two are much closer in the betting now, with Galopin Des Champs 15/8 and Fastorslow 7/2, so there has been significant recalibration by the bookmakers after the evidence that is there for all to see; Fastorslow is a very good horse.

With that in mind, I don’t think he’s underrated now, and for all that he’s very good I do wonder if three miles in testing ground around Leopardstown against a handful of strong stayers is really what he wants.

For my money his tactical pace was a key factor in his two Punchestown verdicts over Galopin Des Champs and he will probably have to show a different side to his game to prevail here, for all that this could be tactical once again.

The very good horses have that in their locker, so the challenge is laid down for Fastorslow, who might have to be more of the latter part of his name and less of the former in this race.

Can Gerri Colombe make the step up?

Kempton’s loss is Leopardstown’s gain as Gerri Colombe goes for a home win rather than the King George he was reported to be on track for at one stage.

Given what happened on Boxing Day you have to think Gerri Colombe would’ve gone close at Kempton with a clear run in a race that would’ve set up nicely for him - and the biggest negative for him in the Savills is the distinct possibility of an average gallop to aim at.

Conflated usually goes forward and Appreciate It returned to front-running tactics for the first time in a while in the John Durkan, so they could make the running, but the bulk of the Savills field like to sit off the gallop and that’s bad news for Gerri Colombe.

In good news he conceded race-fitness to three rivals in the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal on his seasonal return, a cosy neck win over Envoi Allen most encouraging on his first crack in open company.

A solid jumper who is all staying power, if he is within touching distance of the leaders after the second last he could well extend his excellent record, now standing at nine wins from 10 races under Rules.

What about the previous winners?

Conflated got the run of the race in a prominent position when winning this race last year and he does have an affinity for Leopardstown having won the Irish Gold Cup here at the start of 2022, as well.

His best chance of winning this is if he is well-positioned at the head of affairs when Sam Ewing turns the screw but in pure ability terms it will be disappointing if he backs up last year’s win, as there seems to be at least four horses that have better form than him in this type of contest.

One of those is another previous winner, A Plus Tard, who would have a massive chance here on his 2021-22 victories in the Betfair Chase and Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The problem is he has been a pale imitation of his former self in three subsequent starts; the pulled up effort in last season’s Betfair Chase, the pulled up effort (after being hampered) in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and then his 17-and-a-half length third to Shishkin at Aintree.

Trainer Henry de Bromhead says he is ‘working lovely’ ahead of Leopardstown which is encouraging, but wary punters, myself included, are leaving him alone judging by his position in the market (he’s available to back at 16/1).

Who is the best of the rest?

De Bromhead’s other one, Envoi Allen, fits the bill nicely.

The nine-year-old is unbeaten at Leopardstown after a Grade 2 bumper win and Grade 1 novice chase win (at this meeting two years ago) and he had the biggest win of his career when landing an eighth top-level success in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham in March.

He stays three miles well and was mugged on the line by Gerri Colombe at Down Royal, but he has the gears to cope with a tactical race, if that’s on the agenda, and he might just come into this under the radar with Rachael Blackmore preferring the claims of A Plus Tard. Darragh O’Keeffe, a previous winner of this race (on A Plus Tard when Blackmore rode Minella Indo), takes the ride.

The Mullins B-team have to be given due respect.

Appreciate It was probably flattered to split Fastorslow and Galopin des Champs in the John Durkan over the intermediate trip, but he’s massively unexposed over three miles and this is a good spot to test the waters in that respect.

I Am Maximus is a surprising contender judging by the bulk of his novice chasing campaign, but then he won the Irish Grand National and still qualified as a novice to take in the Drinmore at Fairyhouse on December 3, a win that was boosted by runner-up Found A Fifty on Boxing Day.

“He’s arguably our most interesting runner,” says Mullins in his Sporting Life column, an indication of the depth of the 2023 Savills Chase given he was a 28/1 chance.

Verdict

A fabulous renewal and loads of angles to attack from in this race.

A key factor for me is the way this could be run and having the gears to cope with an average gallop could be vital in the final analysis, with horses like Gerri Colombe and I Am Maximus possibly disadvantaged in such a scenario.

The step back up in trip looks sure to see a vast improvement from GALOPIN DES CHAMPS on his second run of the campaign and I’ll take him to reverse form with Fastorslow, who can fight it out with the underestimated Envoi Allen for the runner-up spot.

1. GALOPIN DES CHAMPS
2. Envoi Allen
3. Fastorslow

Feature written prior to Fastorslow's withdrawal on account of the ground

More from Sporting Life

• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org