Action from Leopardstown at the DRF

Billy Nash on the beaten novices at Leopardstown that caught the eye for Cheltenham Festival handicaps

By Billy Nash

Horse Racing

Thu February 06, 2025 · 1M ago

With the closing date for handicap entries at the Cheltenham Festival fast approaching, Billy Nash takes a look at some of the Irish novices that have recently met the qualifying criteria.

Karniquet catches the eye

Kopek des Bordes, Final Demand and to a lesser extent Hello Neighbour enhanced their Cheltenham Festival claims at the DRF last weekend but there were plenty of other novices that caught the eye over the course of the two days.

Whilst no match for the winner, Karniquet put a disappointing effort at Christmas behind to finish a good second to Kopek des Bordes in the Brave Inca. Significantly, that was Karniquet’s fifth start over hurdles, so he is now qualified to run in the Cheltenham handicaps.

A close second at just short of two and a quarter miles on his second start in France, he is half-brother to Gemirande so a step up in trip for either the Martin Pipe or the Coral Cup seems likely. Karafon seemed to pay the price for trying to match strides with the winner in that race but is another for whom the Martin Pipe is now likely to come under consideration.

Another Willie Mullins-trained novice who failed to come up to expectations last weekend was Supersundae in the opening race on Saturday. He did, however, have a legitimate excuse as he was reported to be stiff behind post race. Assuming Mullins can get him back on track in time, he looks an ideal type for the Coral Cup – a race his half-brother, Supasundae, won in 2017.

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McLovin' McLaurey for the Martin Pipe

Perhaps the most significant race of the weekend, when it comes to looking ahead to Cheltenham handicaps, was the Liffey handicap hurdle. The winner, McLaurey, not only needed to run to qualify for some of the big prizes next month but also needed to win, or at least go very close, in order to earn a rating that would enable him to get a run.

Heavily backed throughout the day, McLaurey looked value for more than the winning margin (retains a p on his Timeform rating) as he made a successful start in handicap company.

Put up 13 pounds by the Irish handicapper for that win, he will prove suited by a step back up in trip so the Martin Pipe looks the obvious next port of call. The runner-up on Sunday, Storm Heart, is no longer a novice but is another who made sure of his place at Cheltenham, now as low as 8/1 with some firms for the County Hurdle.

Gordon Elliott, who has saddled at least one handicap winner at every Cheltenham Festival since 2017 (*was suspended in 2021), didn’t have a winner last weekend but he had plenty run well in defeat. The Enabler, who seemed to find things happening a bit quickly behind McLaurey, will probably be aimed at the Martin Pipe, which is also likely to be the target for Patter Merchant who finished a good fifth to Percival Legallois.

An Elliott horse who I thought shaped a good deal better than his finishing position was Wendrock in the Juvenile Hurdle. Still upsides the leaders early in the straight, he was starting to fade out of things when making a bad mistake at the last after which he wasn’t given a hard time.

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Normal service for Cromwell

He’ll be Fred Winter bound, where he is likely to come up against Willy de Houelle and Sony Bill, both of whom are yet to build on their French form. Total Look, a big eye-catcher at Punchestown last week, and Puturhandstogether, runner-up at Fairyhouse earlier this week, are other juveniles who seem to have been brought along with the Fred Winter in mind.

Total Look’s trainer, Gavin Cromwell – very much the go-to guy when it comes to big handicaps at present – has been having a very good time of things of late and his Backtonormal will have plenty of options after his Leopardstown Chase win.

Backtonormal could run in the newly revamped Golden Miller but, as he has had four runs over fences, he is also eligible for the open handicaps.

Similar comments apply to Touch Me Not and Firefox, second and third respectively in the Irish Arkle. One or both of that pair are likely to head for the Grand Annual. Sa Majeste, down the field when well fancied in last year's Coral Cup, had some luck on his side at Fairyhouse on Wednesday but that run should set him up nicely for something like the Kim Muir.