Top Irish form expert Donn McClean is happy to take on Bravemansgame in the Brown Advisory with what he feels is an underestimated Irish-trained contender.
It wasn’t a huge surprise that Galopin Des Champs was left in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase on Thursday morning, nor that Bob Olinger was taken out. Henry de Bromhead has long since said that Bob Olinger was going for the Turners Chase, and we know that Willie Mullins has yet to make up his mind definitively about Galopin Des Champs. That’s the way Willie Mullins rolls, remember? Decisions at the 11th hour? (Or in the 59th or 60th minute of the 10th hour actually.)
You never know in what direction the moving parts are going to move.
It’s still going to be an intriguing race, with Bravemansgame and Ahoy Senor set for Round 3. It’s one-each in their private duel. Ahoy Senor finished seven lengths in front of Bravemansgame when they finished first and second in the Sefton Hurdle at Aintree last April, but Paul Nicholls’ horse exacted his revenge in the Kauto Star Chase at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day, beating Lucinda Russell’s horse by just a half a length further. They both won last time out, Ahoy Senor the Towton Chase at Wetherby, Bravemansgame a novices’ handicap chase at Newbury, both at 8/11, and it will be fascinating to see how they fare against each other again next Wednesday.
It is a strong British challenge, because there is a good chance that L’Homme Presse will line up in the race too. Venetia Williams says that her horse’s Cheltenham target – the Brown Advisory or the Turners Novices’ Chase – will be determined by the ground, and the Diamond Boy gelding would obviously be a big player in either race. He has never gone beyond two miles and five furlongs, but he stays that trip well, there is every chance that he will get further, and he is one for one at Cheltenham.
That said, with all the talk and conjecture about those horses at the top of the market, Beacon Edge has drifted to a price that is probably bigger than it should be. Noel Meade’s horse was a high-class hurdler last season, he won the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle, beating Fury Road and Darasso, and he finished fourth in the Stayers’ Hurdle last year behind Flooring Porter.
He can probably be marked up too on the bare form of that run, because he was the one who chased Flooring Porter around the home turn, and those exertions probably told as he tired on the run-in, just getting caught by Paisley Park for third place.
A promising runner-up to Lifetime Ambition in a beginners’ chase at Down Royal on his chasing bow in October over an inadequate two miles and three and a half furlongs, he stayed on well next time to land the Grade 1 Drinmore Chase at Fairyhouse in November. Again, the intermediate trip looked to be on the sharp side for him, he was only fourth jumping the second last fence, but he stayed on strongly from there, and just got up close home to get the better of Gabynako and Fury Road.
A slight setback meant that he missed out on the Christmas Festival at Leopardstown, and he fell at the sixth fence on his comeback run in the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Novice Chase that Galopin Des Champs won at the Dublin Racing Festival last month, which was uncharacteristic of him. He ran a big race last time though in the Grade 2 Ten Up Chase at Naas, going down by just three parts of a length to Farouk D’Alene, the pair of them clear of Braeside.
He travelled well through his race that day, and he jumped well, and he only gave best on the run-in to his fellow Gigginstown House horse, to whom he was conceding 7lb. That was a big run. Also, it was just his second run back after a break, and it was his first completion since he won the Drinmore Chase in November, so there is every chance that it will bring him forward again.
He does not have much to find on ratings with those horses at the top of the market and, with just four chases under his belt, he has the potential to continue his progression. His last run was his first run over fences over three miles, so he remains unexposed over staying trips over fences.
He has that blend of stamina and class – a Grade 1 winner over fences, fourth in the Stayers’ Hurdle – that you look for in a potential Brown Advisory Chase winner, and he put up one of the best performances of his life on his only run at Cheltenham, at the Cheltenham Festival, on good to soft ground. He is going into the race a little under the radar, and he could out-run his odds by a fair way.
