Hi all,
Due to the sheer quality on show, my weekend review will be split into two parts. Today, I’ll cover Saturday’s action, with Sunday’s races following in Tuesday’s column.
The Irish jumps season roared into life over the weekend. The Dublin Racing Festival isn’t always easy from a punting perspective, but as a spectacle, it’s outstanding. For me, it’s better than Punchestown and second only to Cheltenham for overall quality.
Big fields added to the excitement, with 69 runners declared across the four handicaps. Graded races were well-contested too, despite Gordon Elliott swerving the meeting with his top novices due to Willie Mullins’ dominance. Henry de Bromhead’s Workahead, a leading Supreme contender, also skipped Leopardstown and will go straight to Cheltenham. But outside of those absentees, the best was on show.
I love watching this meeting—it’s just a shame the Racing Post remains obsessed with Cheltenham, constantly questioning whether the races are reliable trials rather than appreciating for the good races they are.
Dublin Racing Festival – Day 1 Recap
Here's my take on an exciting, informative Saturday at Leopardstown. Willie Mullins dominated the first day of last year’s Dublin Racing Festival, sweeping all four Grade 1s. This time, he had to settle for three.
Final Demand Delivers in Style
The Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle kicked things off with a commanding win from Mullins' trained Final Demand. A Boxing Day hurdle debut winner at Limerick, he handled the rise in class with ease. Between the final two hurdles, it was clear who’d come out on top. He took the lead at the last and powered away for a 12-length success.
He’s a lovely stamp of a horse with plenty of scope and will stay three miles in time. For now, though, he has the gears to drop back in trip. The Turners Novices’ Hurdle (2m5f) looks a more likely Cheltenham target than the Albert Bartlett. Final Demand is vying for favouritism with The New Lion for the Turners, but if he lines up, I can see him going off favourite.
Hello Neighbour Upsets the Party
Gavin Cromwell spoilt Mullins' Grade 1 party when Hello Neighbour landed the Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle. A Grade 2 winner on hurdle debut here, he settled much better in a first-time hood than he did on Boxing Day. Travelling best of all to the last, he looked set for an easy win but didn’t find much when hitting the front. Even so, he always had enough to hold off Galileo Dame’s late charge.
It was a decisive win for the son of Harzand, now unbeaten in two flat starts and two over hurdles. He’s Triumph Hurdle-bound but will need to improve further to beat the likes of Lulamba and East India Dock.
Galileo Dame didn’t get the clearest run two out but finished strongly to get within ¾ length of the winner. After a couple of Listed runner-up finishes on the flat last autumn, she showed her soft-ground credentials once more and will also head to the Triumph.
As for Sainte Lucie, the weak 13/8 favourite went out like a light on the turn and something was probably amiss with the Willie Mullins filly.
Majborough Marches On
Majborough made it 2-2 over fences with a dominant win in the Grade 1 Irish Arkle. He wasn’t foot-perfect but still cantered over his rivals to win by nine lengths. It was a commanding performance, setting up a titanic clash with fellow five-year-old Sir Gino in the Arkle at Cheltenham.
You can relive Majborough’s win here.
Touch Me Not, runner-up to L’Eau du Sud in a Grade 1 at Sandown in December, filled the same spot again but was beaten five lengths further this time. A solid jumper, he couldn’t live with the winner after the last.
There’s room for improvement in Majborough’s jumping. He’ll need to sharpen up to beat Sir Gino, who looked exceptional on his chase debut. That said, my Arkle ante-post pick is firmly on course for Cheltenham.
Galopin Des Champs: Irish Gold Cup Hat-Trick for Mullins’ Superstar Chaser
I’ve run out of superlatives for Galopin Des Champs, who landed his third straight Irish Gold Cup.
Paul Townend gave him a peach of a ride, dictating the pace and stacking the field up coming to the last before powering clear on the run-in.
Mark Walsh also gave Fact To File a smart ride. He settled better than last time and came through to challenge his stablemate at the last but had no more to give and lost second to another stablemate Grangeclare West.
Inothewayurthinkin Keeps Improving
Inothewayurthinkin got closer to Galopin Des Champs than he did at Christmas, and in my view, was given a tender ride when running on into fourth. He’s improving with each run, and connections clearly have a target in mind for the seven-year-old—maybe the Grand National or more likely the Irish version. That said, I don’t know why he wasn’t entered in the Gold Cup. The extra couple of furlongs at Cheltenham would see him improve again. JP McManus won’t have a Gold Cup runner at this rate, so maybe they’ll consider supplementing him for the race.
After this, Fact To File surely heads for the Ryanair rather than the Gold Cup. If he can’t beat Galopin Des Champs over three miles, he certainly won’t over two furlongs further.
Galopin Des Champs is a phenomenal staying chaser. He loves racing, loves jumping, and is a fantastic advert for National Hunt racing. The best Irish staying chaser since Arkle? It’s hard to argue. As long as he stays healthy, nothing will stop Galopin Des Champs from winning a third Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.
Handstands Battles to Narrow Victory in Scilly Isles Thriller
This side of the Irish Sea, Saturday’s sole Grade 1 was the Virgin Bet Scilly Isles Novices' Chase. Just four went to post, but it produced the day’s most thrilling finish as Handstands bravely held off Jango Baie by a short head.
Ben Jones made it a stamina test and judged the fractions perfectly. Jumping the last, it was anyone’s race, but Handstands showed his trademark toughness to prevail.
Handstands won’t be heading to Cheltenham and will wait for Aintree and if he gets soft ground, he will be tough to beat there.
The heavy ground suited the winner more than the keen-going runner-up. Even so, Jango Baie finished his race off well, and with no intermediate novice chase at Cheltenham, he’ll likely step up in trip for the Brown Advisory (3m). Better ground will help, but he’ll need to settle to stay the trip.
The disappointment was Kalif Du Berlais, who never recovered from a mistake three out and clearly didn’t stay 2m4f on testing ground. A drop back in trip and better ground will suit him. Forget the Arkle—connections will likely aim for the Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree.
I took a swing with a few longshots each way on Saturday, but they ran like million-to-one shots. I got the value in most cases, and while beating the odds is key for long-term success, value doesn’t pay the bills well not in the short-term. After a strong January, the first day of the new month brought me back down to earth with a thud. You could say it was ‘a bad day at the office'.
In tomorrow’s column, I’ll wrap up my thoughts about the Dublin Racing Festival.
Good luck with your Monday bets!
John