Ruby Walsh: Klassical Dream can thwart Sire De Berlais at Punchestown
HAT-TRICK SEEKER: Klassical Dream retained his Ladbrokes Champion Stayers' Hurdle crown last year and can complete his hat-trick in the Punchestown Grade One on Thursday. Picture: Healy Racing
Thursday is the halfway point and the day that sees a general shift in attendance. This meeting is a build-up one that brings a daily increase, and with the rain forecast this morning, I have a feeling Friday could gain a few extra as some dodge getting wet.
Day three’s highlight is the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers’ Hurdle, at 5:25pm, and Sire Du Berlais is bidding to complete a quite remarkable treble. He won the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and followed up with what looked like an unlikely but ultimately convincing win in the JRL Group Liverpool Hurdle 12 days ago.
He is a horse who never seems to get the recognition he deserves, and I am as guilty of that as anyone, but when you look at all the races he has won, what a horse he is.
His style of running is not striking, he is never eye-catching with the way he travels or with the ease of how he wins, but what he does do is dig deep and grind defeats into victories. Having seven wins from 30 starts is not noteworthy, but when six of those make up three Cheltenham Festival wins, two Liverpool Hurdle victories, and a Lismullen Hurdle, they certainly are noteworthy.
He is slightly an unsung hero in the world of horse racing, but I have a feeling he will get the warmth he deserves from the crowd if he collects on Thursday.
To do so, he will have to deal with Teahupoo and Klassical Dream, who were both behind him at Cheltenham, and both skipped Aintree. The drying ground might slightly inconvenience Teahupoo, but Klassical Dream has an excellent record at this festival and has won the last two renewals of this contest.
He is Paul Townend's pick and will be mine, too, even if some Willie Mullins fans will have eyes on Monkfish. There is no doubting the giant chestnut's ability but backing up 17 days after a 713-day layoff is a big ask in any company, let alone at the top level.
On Tuesday evening, Energumene cemented his place at the top of the Champion Chase pecking order, and this evening his future rivals will seek to enhance their reputations as worthy challengers.
I say ‘they’ but probably mean ‘he’, because El Fabiolo looks like the only real challenger to emerge through the novice ranks likely to trouble the champion.
He blew the Dublin Racing Festival Arkle apart and dealt with Jonbon in Cheltenham just as efficiently, but if he has a flaw, he tends to treat some fences with contempt. Mistakes have been a theme of his three starts thus far, but to go with that, he seems to have mastered the art of keeping his hind end lower than his front end, which stops him from toppling over.
He has a massive engine, and whilst Punchestown will suit Dysart Dynamo's style of running better, it is impossible to oppose El Fabiolo.
The evening's entertainment kicks off in the late afternoon, at 3.40 pm, and Willie runs Figaroc and Feu De Bresil. Both have a squeak, but Snapius, right down the bottom of the weights, is the each-way selection.
In the second, at 4.15pm, Dinoblue represents the champion trainer, and the 7lb rise in the weights she received for the Fairyhouse win 18 days ago will make life hard for her. Still, she is only six and usually jumps like a stag, so she will be there or thereabouts.
However, my eye is drawn to the top weight, Coeur Sublime. Ben Harvey will claim 5lb off him, bringing his weight below Dinoblue's, and his form from here last year against Blue Lord is very strong, so I will take a chance on him.
I don't have a strong opinion on the La Touché, but I will watch it with my usual enthusiasm for horses tackling this unique test and will wish them all the best of luck.
At six o’clock, 25 horses will face the starter for the Conway Piling Hurdle, and I could easily pick eight who could win this contest. Gatsby Grey, Walking On Air, Seabank Bistro, Ballyshannon Rose, Grozni, Let’s Go Champ, A Great View, and Verdant Place are all on the list, but chances are the winner hasn't even got a mention.
I like puzzles, but this one is beyond me, and instead, I will keep my powder dry and wait for Brookfield Hall in the Close Brothers Irish EBF Mares’ Handicap Chase at 7.10 pm.
I thought her run at Fairyhouse 19 days ago would leave her spot on for this assignment, and if all has failed, there is always Ballyburn to save the day at 7.45 pm.
If I were Patrick Mullins, I would have been applying the same pressure on Willie to divide him and Tullyhill, and I hope he has gotten it right. He could have lined up against A Dream To Share and Tullyhill in Wednesday's Champion Bumper but has waited for Thursday's winners' bumper. I hope it's the lucky last.
