With the Christmas festival blitz in the rearview mirror, the focus now turns to a new decade and 2020 promises plenty. Here Darren Norris highlights 10 dates not to be missed

Driven clear on the run-in by Patrick Mullins, Sharjah completed back-to-back wins in the Grade 1 Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown.

On a card that offers little cause for optimism at Cheltenham this afternoon, Faugheen is fancied to turn back the clock and land the Sun Racing Stayers’ Hurdle.

Oh, the up and downs, the highs and lows of national hunt racing. Yesterday had it all for me. It was amazing to win the first race on Klassical Dream and to watch Duc Des Genievres win the second – it was clear the horses were in great order.

For the third consecutive year, the fifth time in the last 10 runnings, and a record ninth time in total, the familiar green and gold colours of JP McManus were carried to victory in the Unibet Champion Hurdle.

At the 11th hour we switched Klassical Dream back to the Supreme and he’ll be my first ride of the 2019 Cheltenham Festival. We had contemplated going up in trip with him after his win at the Dublin Racing Festival in Leopardstown but with the ground slowing and looking at the opposition – Felix Desjy will more than likely make it a strongly-run race – we thought this would be the right race for him.

Hard to recall a Tuesday card at Cheltenham as difficult as today’s but Benie Des Dieux can be the punters’ pal on the opening day to the 2019 Festival by proving a class apart from her rivals in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle.

Nicky Henderson reports Buveur D’Air to be in tip-top condition as he bids to become the sixth horse to record three successive victories in today’s Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.

You cannot do what this horse has done in such a short time and not be regarded as potentially top class, writes Pat Keane.

It would be quite a stretch to suggest Buveur D’air’s eclipse in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton opened the door for would-be takers of his Champion Hurdle crown, but Samcro all but stepped out of the running for that distinction with another disappointing display, this time behind Sharjah in the Grade 1 Ryanair Hurdle on Saturday afternoon in Leopardstown.

Ruby Walsh produced a brilliant ride on Easy Game in Navan last Sunday, silencing the gutless social media critics who were quick to write him off as he struggled to come back after a series of injuries, writes Pat Keane

As a massive Samcro fan, from the first day he set foot on a racecourse, I will be surprised should he be good enough to win the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

It’s day two of the Leopardstown and Limerick festivals and much attention will be on Min, who contests the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase at the Dublin track, writes Ruby Walsh

He is, quite simply, the most hyped horse since Golden Cygnet. It is just as well Gordon Elliott’s Samcro isn’t human, because, if he was, the weight of expectation might overwhelm him, writes Pat Keane.

Apprentices Donnacha O’Brien and Donagh O’Connor both recorded doubles in Dundalk last night.

Well-backed all day and sent off 11/10 favourite, Love Potion made a successful debut for J P McManus and David Wachman in the Irish Stallion Farms 2-Y-0 Fillies Maiden in wet and windy Dundalk last night.

Johnny Levins’ long-term plan to have a crack at the Ayr Gold Cup with Your Pal Tal remains in place following the progressive five-year-old’s narrow victory over Majestic Timeline in the opening five-furlong handicap in Dundalk last night.

Five Claw made every yard of the running to foil uneasy odds-on favourite Song Of Love in the Elusive Pimpernel Maiden in Dundalk last night.

Without a win since scoring on his debut on the polytrack in May 2012, Tennessee Wildcat gave champion apprentice Colin Keane and his boss Ger Lyons a first win of 2015 when defying top-weight in the www.dundalkstadium.com Handicap in Dundalk.

Togoville, who has shown a distinct liking for the polytrack, can land the nap in the Floodlit Friday Nights Rated Race at Dundalk this evening.

The Tracey Collins-trained Indian Landing outclassed his rivals when justifying 7/4 favouritism and recording his third course and distance success in the Dundalk Stadium Light Up Your Night Handicap at Dundalk’s first meeting of 2015 last night.

Irish punters, starved of any action since last Sunday, get a minor fix at Dundalk tonight.

Carrigmoorna Rock is the hopeful nap choice in the Girls Nite Out At Clonmel Races Mares’ Maiden Hurdle, on what is a very moderate card at the Tipperary track tonight.

The five-runner Tipper Road Race, the last on the card, is easily the most interesting contest at Naas tonight.