Things you may have missed this weekend including early clues for the Betfair Hurdle

Too fast, too slow

Imagine writing a feature on Irish jumps stars in action last week and not including Fastorslow. Gulp.

In our defence (I do get these features sub-edited, believe it or not…), Galopin Des Champ is the Gold Cup winner and he was sent off as the 1/2 favourite for Sunday’s John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase. And, let’s face it, had the spotlight been on the Brits instead, would we really have nominated Pic D’Orhy as the ace in action at Ascot, or Royale Pagaille as the headliner heading to Haydock?

I'll stop digging.

It was one of those weekends but the John Durkan result wasn't all that shocking, Fastorslow evidently improving at an unambiguously rapid rate, and Galopin Des Champs arguably just a step slower than the relatively fast stayer he had looked en route to Cheltenham glory in the last campaign.

With the benefit of hindsight, Willie Mullins had commented pre-season that the John Durkan came up a week earlier than normal this time around, and more like three weeks earlier than last year when the race was postponed until December 19 due to the weather, but I’m not convinced readiness was the issue for Galopin Des Champs, rather he wasn’t all that suited to the moderate tempo and sprint finish, even failing to get by nippier stablemate Appreciate It - who had cut out the running - in the end.

Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater here (the Gold Cup supposedly ‘leaving a mark’ has reared its ugly head again) as this was a creditable effort from the big black horse back in third, despite him running a bit flat according to Paul Townend. The invincibility cloak has slipped, no question, but there will be major days ahead for the seven-year-old, who is likely to be put away until the Dublin Racing Festival in a bid to keep him as fresh as possible for major spring targets.

The runner-up might just live up to his name back on a left-handed track and up in trip if going for Leopardstown’s Savills Chase, and as for the winner – well, I’ve clearly done him another massive disservice by coming to him last, but the opportunity to back Fastorslow at 10/1 to beat Galopin Des Champs is quite clearly top of my ‘things you may have missed’ this weekend.

Turning left before and during take-off

With State Man and Gaelic Warrior doing what was widely expected of them, the most interesting race by far at Punchestown on Saturday saw Favori De Champdou open his chase account at the second time of asking in the Grade 2 Florida Pearl.

He jumped straight and true and galloped on resolutely to win by 14 lengths from Sandor Clegane but, without being too harsh on the winner, this race was all about the quirky but often brilliant Flooring Porter.

Though a winner on a couple of occasions going right-handed in his youth, Flooring Porter had looked ill-at-ease on his previous visit to Punchestown and unfortunately the decision to pay another visit back-fired quite spectacularly.

He hung left from a very early stage, jumped left over the vast majority of the 17 fences - massively so late on - and still managed to finish third.

Luckily for trainer Gavin Cromwell, races at Leopardstown (Christmas Festival and the Dublin Racing Festival) followed by a return to Cheltenham - where this horse's record now reads 1141 - effectively hand-pick themselves from this point and while betting on Flooring Porter is never going to become a risk-free pastime overnight, things should get a lot more straightforward for the two-time Stayers' Hurdle hero as his novice chasing campaign goes on.

Welcome to Ascot

Plan B didn’t map out all that well for Bravemansgame in the Betfair Chase at Haydock and his King George crown consequently looks a little uneasy, but it won’t have been lost on anyone that he was Paul Nicholls’ only loser on Saturday after the champion trainer, Harry Cobden and owner Johnny de la ‘Hey, get your own jockey!’ mopped up on the Ascot card.

The one of theirs from Ascot I’ll be keeping close tabs on, though, was narrowly beaten in Friday’s opening race, the totally inexperienced Welcome To Cartries just coming out second best after a good battle with 6/4 joint-favourite Beat The Bat (Harry Fry).

Inseparable in the market and only a head between them at the finish line, I loved how the second jumped as he warmed to the task, measuring the last two hurdles on a perfect stride and generally shaping like the debut under Rules (the winner had run in three bumpers and a Chepstow maiden hurdle last month, by comparison) would bring him on enormously.

Some maiden hurdles just look a little out of the ordinary and this race – in which the first two pulled 15 lengths clear – very much ‘fits the brief’, as the cooking programmes like to call it.

Gin fizz

If feels as though Shishkin has already been resurrected at least once before and I’m not sure if we’re now looking at Plan C, D or E, but a weekend entry in Newcastle’s Rehearsal Chase suggests things have rapidly become a little desperate for the nine-year-old and his connections.

Nicky Henderson was at a loss trying to explain the horse’s refusal to jump off in the Ascot Chase and it wasn’t a good two-day meeting at all for the trainer, Doddiethegreat his only winner from 10 starters.

It’s been a fruitful few days for Harry Fry, by contrast, the trainer sending out eight runners across Friday, Saturday and Sunday and half of them winning. Boothill was a shade fortunate to collect the Jim Barry Hurst Park Handicap Chase on account of Saint Segal’s fall at the last but he gets full credit for successfully conceding lumps of weight to Frere D’Armes and the progressive (and in-form) Triple Trade, and he’s probably just about on the cusp of a Tingle Creek bid now.

A day earlier, there was a real air of authority about Gin Coco’s success in the two-mile handicap hurdle at Ascot and he looks like fulfilling his potential with the addition of a tongue-tie obviously beneficial. If you could guarantee a bit of decent ground for the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury in February, that race would be a seriously tempting target.

Brennan donation

Gin Coco wasn’t the only one to make his way into the Betfair Hurdle notebook this weekend with Haydock’s Grade 2 novices’ hurdle winner Kamsinas already looking a very likely type with one more outing expected before a potential trip to Newbury.

There’s every chance that outing will come in the new Grade 1 at Aintree on Boxing Day, formerly the Tolworth Hurdle which had developed a bit of a habit in throwing up future Betfair Hurdle horses when run at Sandown.

Time will tell if that trend continues on Merseyside but Kamsinas, who followed home subsequent Greatwood runner-up Lookaway at Cheltenham’s Showcase Meeting last month, is heading the right direction, possesses plenty of natural pace and a fluent hurdling technique to boot.

The real story here, however, was that winning jockey Paddy Brennan pledged his share of the prize-money to the Injured Jockey Fund and their support of Graham Lee – the JustGiving page set up by Graham's daughter Amy now showing more than £162,000 donated.

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