Key names to watch out for at the Dublin Racing Festival this weekend
Numerous big names have been entered for the eight Grade 1s at Leopardstown this weekend, including Galopin des Champs, Honeysuckle and Facile Vega.
Saturday
Mullins to Spring into action
Willie Mullins won six of the Dublin Racing Festival’s eight Grade 1 contests last year, as well as the Grade 2 bumper with Facile Vega, and predictably has plenty of aces in his pack again for both days of the weekend fixture. In fact, he is responsible for more than half of the total of 33 entries for the four Grade 1 contests on Saturday’s card.
Numerically, he is most dominant in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle which he won last year with the subsequent Triumph Hurdle winner Vauban. There’s not much doubt that the stable’s number one for that event this year is the filly Lossiemouth who kept her unbeaten record over hurdles with an impressive defeat of stablemate Gala Marceau, another filly, in the Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown on Boxing Day.
However, Blood Destiny has looked an exciting prospect in winning both his starts since joining Mullins, most recently landing the odds by a wide margin at Fairyhouse last month. Another of the stable’s entries with a ‘large P’ – denoting above-average improvement is expected – is the J. P. McManus-owned Tekao who was third on his debut over hurdles at Navan behind the same owner’s Comfort Zone – a winner twice since in Britain – before cosily landing the odds in the maiden hurdle for juveniles at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.
More Closutton domination in Irish Arkle
It’s hard to get away from Mullins again in the Irish Arkle in which all five of his entries won last time out. There’s not a great deal to choose between all eight entries on what they’ve achieved over fences so far so this will come down to which has the most scope for improvement. On the face of it, as a nine-year-old Appreciate It might seem vulnerable on that score, though it’s hard to argue with the way the former Supreme winner has won his two chases, looking a very assured jumper when a facile winner at Naas last month.
Saint Roi already has a Grade 1 win to his name when winning here in December, while the more lightly-raced pair El Fabiolo and Dysart Diamond, smart novice hurdlers last year, were easy winners on their respective chasing debuts at Fairyhouse and Leopardstown.
Visionarian and Fil Dor are held by Saint Roi on their form here last time so the biggest threat to the Mullins team could come from Banbridge for Joseph O’Brien who gave his rivals a jumping lesson when winning at Cheltenham in November.
Galopin going for Irish Gold glory
The main attraction on the first day of the Dublin Racing Festival, though, will be Galopin des Champs, a short-priced favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup who goes over three miles for the first time over fences in the Irish Gold Cup.
He had stablemate Stattler back in third when winning the Grade 1 Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle at Punchestown on his only previous try at three miles when looking very much at home over the trip and, having shown top-class form over fences since, most recently when winning the John Durkan Punchestown Chase with plenty in hand, a similarly convincing win here could easily make him an odds-on shot for Cheltenham.
Rivals could include Stattler again, narrowly beaten for the first time over fences in the New Year’s Day Chase at Tramore, but he still has more potential than the likes of Kemboy and Fury Road who filled the places behind Conflated (last year’s winner not entered this time) in the Savills Chase here in December.
Land ahoy in informative novice hurdle
The opening Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle might offer the best chance of another stable to land a Grade 1 prize on the card, for all that one of the Mullins entries Grangeclare West has shown plenty of ability and the other, Quais de Paris, was well touted before landing the odds at Tramore on his debut for the yard last month.
However, Barry Connell’s Good Land could have the strongest claims after winning a maiden hurdle here in December in very taking fashion by eight lengths.
His biggest danger could be Weveallbeencaught, a rare entry at this meeting for a British stable. He showed plenty of promise on his hurdling debut for Nigel Twiston-Davies when third behind Hermes Allen at Cheltenham and went on to win a maiden hurdle at the same track on New Year’s Day, form which received a boost when the runner-up Rock My Way won the Grade 2 novice back at Cheltenham last Saturday.
Sunday
Irish Champion the clash of the meeting
The Irish Champion Hurdle was one of the Grade 1s which eluded Mullins last year when Honeysuckle won it for the third time in a row.
However, her chances of another win look less rock-solid than previously given that she was beaten for the first time in her career in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse last time, a race she’d won before each of her three Irish Champion Hurdles. The going was heavy at Fairyhouse, more testing than for most of her races, and after leading on the bridle, she had no more to give when headed by Teahupoo who has since proved himself over three miles.
Back at two miles on less testing ground and with that run under her belt, Honeysuckle is entitled to be closer to her best this time but she faces a couple of progressive younger rivals trained by Mullins, State Man and Vauban, who took the first two places in the Matheson Hurdle here in December.
That was a top-class effort from State Man, the winner of his last five starts and now second in the Champion Hurdle betting behind Constitution Hill, and his clash with Honeysuckle looks the most fascinating race of the weekend.
HD the one to crash Facile party?
Facile Vega, as mentioned already, and Blue Lord were among their stable’s winners at the meeting last year and both will be short odds for their respective Grade 1 assignments this time in the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle and the Dublin Chase.
Unbeaten in six outings all told, Facile Vega is already odds on for the Supreme at Cheltenham having readily beaten stablemate Il Etait Temps by four lengths in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle here at Christmas. The runner-up is entered here too, but it could be Gaelic Warrior who completes the Mullins one-two this time having won his two starts this season very easily, the latest one at minor event at Clonmel last month, though he also has the option of carrying top weight in the handicap hurdle later on the card.
Their most interesting rival could be High Definition who was very smart on the Flat for Aidan O’Brien and made a successful debut over hurdles here on Boxing Day despite still having plenty to learn about jumping.
More of the same as Mullins' Berlais one to watch
Mullins has won all five editions of the Dublin Chase, the first two with Min and the last three with Chacun Pour Soi, and Blue Lord, another winner here at Christmas, should continue that domination. He’ll face only four rivals at most, though one of those could be in the same ownership, with Simon Munir and Isaac Souede also having the Alan King-trained Sceau Royal, who has been running over hurdles so far this term, among the entries.
The other Grade 1 on the Sunday, the Ladbrokes Novice Chase, has a bit more of a competitive look to it at this stage. Gordon Elliott’s unbeaten Gerri Colombe looks like taking up his entry in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown 24 hours earlier instead but that still leaves Elliott with the probable favourite in Mighty Potter.
He put up a high-class effort when winning a very high-quality edition of the Drinmore Novice Chase at Fairyhouse at the beginning of December, beating Gaillard du Mesnil and Banbridge with striking authority. The runner-up franked the form when winning the Grade 1 novice over three miles here later in December but this could be a race in which Mullins has to settle for minor honours.
He has other options besides Gaillard du Mesnil, however, with El Fabiolo entered here, as well as in Saturday’s Irish Arkle, and James du Berlais would make for an interesting rival to Mighty Potter too. His jumping was noticeably slick when returning from a long lay-off to make a winning debut over fences by 15 lengths at Fairyhouse on New Year’s Day.
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