The Cheltenham Bumper winner for 2017 may well have been sorted yesterday when a half-brother to the versatile Publican and the winning mare, Misspublican, was knocked down to Harold Kirk at Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sales for a world record for a national hunt three-year-old store of €320,000.

The Gordon Elliott-trained Delegate looks the best bet of today’s jumps card in Fairyhouse.

It is a quite enough weekend but not without some intrigue all the same and some good performances might book a passage to Cheltenham. 

The Liam Burke-trained newcomer Nambour lit up yesterday’s well attended but bitterly cold Kanturk-Duhallow point-to-point meeting at Dromahane by destroying the opposition in the second division of the four-year-old geldings’ maiden.

The sky looks the limit for Vautour as last season’s top novice hurdler made an impressive debut over fences in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Beginners Chase at Navan yesterday.

Gordon Elliott, who reached a milestone of a hundred winners at Perth on Sunday, struck again in Roscommon last night when Takeyourcapoff captured the featured Athlone Handicap Hurdle under a confident ride by Paul Carberry.

The Gold Cup dream is still very much alive following Flemenstar’s spectacular defeat of Sir Des Champs in the Grade 1 John Durkan Memorial Chase in Punchestown yesterday.

Flemenstar and Sir Des Champs - two of Ireland’s most exciting young chasing talents - clash in what is a small-but-select field for tomorrow’s Grade 1 John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown.

Irish Examiner columnist, Jessica Harrington and fellow trainer, Willie Mullins, have reported their charges to be in good order ahead of the Cheltenham festival, where they will be attempting to bag big cash bonuses courtesy of Boylesports.