Cheltenham Festival update: Spotlight on Impaire Et Passe

Lossiemouth, Marine Nationale, Gaillard Du Mesnil, Honeysuckle, Sire Du Berlais and... that’s right, Maskada! – the six subsequent Cheltenham Festival winners who ran on Sunday’s Fairyhouse card in 2022. Which begs the question, how many did we see this year?

I’d be selling at under 5.5, put it that way.

This season's Royal Bond Novice Hurdle appeared to be lacking a potential superstar beforehand and there was little to change my opinion following Farren Glory’s success at the expense of Gordon Elliott stablemate King Of Kingsfield, while the Drinmore – which produced National Hunt Chase winner Gaillard Du Mesnil last term – was won by the talented but quirky Irish National hero I Am Maximus, who was taking full advantage of his final chance to land a top prize before having to mix in open company from this point on. I wouldn't mind seeing slick-jumping runner-up Found A Fifty over a bit shorter next time.

Elsewhere, the Grade 3 Juvenile Hurdle – claimed by Joseph O’Brien's Nurburgring - lost a bit of lustre when Willie Mullins’ well-touted French import Batman Girac appeared to lose his action (Paul Townend looking down a worrying sign after turning for home), and Nurburgring’s stable companion Common Practice may have shown his hand a little too eagerly by bolting up under Mark Walsh in the Listed two-mile handicap hurdle.

But what about the 2023 edition of the Bar One Hatton’s Grace Hurdle? This famous race has developed a bit of a habit in recent seasons and it’s a reputation of which Impaire Et Passe’s backers should probably have been wary.

Vroum Vroum Mag was a perfect 10-10 for Mullins before being short-headed by Apple’s Jade here in 2016 and Honeysuckle had a record of 16-16 under Rules before her remarkable run was finally brought to an end in third last season.

Perhaps those punters cramming in the last-minute homework spotted the omens as unbeaten Ballymore winner Impaire Et Passe was easy enough to back just before the start, going off 4/5 having been 4/7 overnight. Or perhaps it was how race-ready Teahupoo had looked in the ring, together with his excellent track record when fresh, which contributed to the eventual winner's price contracting.

In the end it was a fascinating race, Zanahiyr setting what appeared only moderate fractions and the slow gallop clearly not suiting the vanquished favourite. Impaire Et Passe bundled the very first hurdle before jumping considerably bigger at the second as Townend took a pull on the approach, no doubt on account of how keenly he was racing.

He just about consented to settle into more of a rhythm from then but always had the look of a horse desperate to be going much faster. With three to jump Townend was finally able to start clicking through the gears and he was good at that flight, approaching the next still on the bridle as Jack Kennedy started to shake the reins on Teahupoo.

Impaire Et Passe took the second-last in style but he hadn’t shaken off his main rival and despite touching down first over the last hurdle, he was outmuscled on the run-in, the big two coming close together in the final 100 yards but there were no obvious excuses for the second.

What are the future options?

Starting out over an extended two and a half miles on testing ground was always going to leave Willie Mullins with a few options going forward with Impaire Et Passe, but in effectively being outstayed by last year’s Stayers’ Hurdle third he’s surely left with no option but to drop the five-year-old back to two miles.

The Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival in February was seemingly plan-A regardless but defeat at the hands of strong stayer Teahupoo, having travelled powerfully and only lost out on the run-in, leaves the distinct impression Impaire Et Passe will be perfectly suited to a fast-run two miles, the trip at which he announced himself when hacking up in the Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown in January.

He’s entered in the Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas but that’s the aim for State Man so they might only meet at the DRF, before a trip to Cheltenham where Constitution Hill will prove an altogether more challenging proposition. Impaire Et Passe is going to need to have developed into a much sharper model by that stage, but it looks perfectly possible on this evidence.

What do the markets say?

Champion Hurdle:

• Impaire Et Passe 7/1 from 100/30
• State Man 5/1 from 11/2
• Constitution Hill 1/3 from ½

Stayers’ Hurdle:

• Impaire Et Passe 16/1 from 10/1
• Teahupoo 4/1 from 7/1

What’s the current conclusion?

While Constitution Hill roams this Earth I don’t think we can be talking up Impaire Et Passe’s Unibet Champion Hurdle claims, but I wouldn’t mind backing him to beat State Man if they both run in the Irish version before Cheltenham.

Mullins is always the first to admit that a novice having their first outing against senior/more established campaigners is a marked step up for any horse and, as already touched upon, Impaire Et Passe isn’t the first very smart one to be beaten on stamina-sapping ground in the Hatton’s Grace.

The aforementioned Vroum Vroum Mag won her next two starts and Honeysuckle ended last season bringing the house down with another Grade 1 victory at Cheltenham, so it’s important to remember this is still only the beginning for a horse like Impaire Et Passe.

Officially rated 160 – the same as Teahupoo incidentally – going into the Hatton’s Grace, I don’t think he’s done anything to tarnish his reputation, or standing as the most exciting second-season hurdler around. It's just a slight shame for his connections that we're looking at a genuine 175-horse at the top of the antepost market for the Champion.

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