The Hennessy meeting at Leopardstown is a great starting point for anyone attempting to identify possible Cheltenham festival winners.

When a horse does a number of things wrong through a race and still wins in a canter then you have to sit up and take notice.

The handicapper, Noel O’Brien, was entitled to allow himself a little smile, following the running of the valuable boylesports.com Handicap Hurdle at Leopardstown last Saturday.

Philip Fenton, one of the quiet men of Irish racing, hasn’t half emerged with real credit over the last ten days or so.

It’s the million dollar question: just how good is Un De Sceaux?

The recent dismissal of Davy Russell as first jockey to Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud poses a question or two.

Well, those who were of the opinion that most of the top horses in the country were housed in the one place, at Willie Mullins’, discovered it wasn’t quite as simple as that over the four days of the Leopardstown Christmas festival Mullins had a reasonably good meeting, winning six of the 28 races, but his dominance was nowhere near as pronounced as some might have anticipated.

The bumper at Navan on December 15, won by Willie Mullins’ Royal Caviar, was rather interesting.

It has not been a particularly good few days for National Hunt racing in this country.

A press-room colleague texted last weekend to say that Willie Mullins, if his horses remain fit and healthy, will win 15 races at the Cheltenham festival.