Five racing teasers to ponder over Christmas
COMEBACK TRAIL: The returning Galopin Des Champs will put his unbeaten record at
Leopardstown on the line on Sunday.
Christmas is a time of year that asks the big questions — ‘was Santa good to you?’ ‘Would you like another helping of sherry trifle’? What time does Mrs Brown’s Boys start?’
But it is a time that brings complex puzzles too. These ones regularly involve racehorses.
With only a couple more sleeps to go before the Christmas equine extravaganza unfolds, here are some seasonal head scratchers with answers that will soon be found.
Willie Mullins is a man of habit who when he finds a formula that works tends to stick with it meticulously. For example, Al Boum Photo: Tramore on New Year’s Day, then the Gold Cup next time out.
Galopin Des Champs: John Durkan Chase, Leopardstown at Christmas and February, then the Gold Cup. But a slight setback in his routine work threw a spanner in the works this time around and Galopin missed his seasonal opener in the John Durkan for the first time in four years.
His belated reappearance comes in the Savills Chase on Sunday, where he renews rivalry with Inothewayurthinkin who relieved him of his Gold Cup title last March. Mullins’ great champion tends to run a bit stuffily first time out and his main opposition, Inothewayurthinkin, Lecky Watson, Fastorslow and Champ Kiely have all had pipe-openers and will be sharper for it.
Galopin Des Champs remains unbeaten in seven starts at Leopardstown and if he wins a race of this depth first time out then a legendary retrieval mission in the Gold Cup is well and truly up and running.
The absence of Galopin Des Champs from the John Durkan certainly didn’t do it any harm as a spectacle. The clash between Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File at Punchestown is already the hot favourite to be named the ‘race of the season.’
The big rematch is planned for the King George at Kempton on Friday and hopefully the quality of the contest boosts the cause of those currently campaigning to prevent the course from being turned into a housing estate.
Last year’s winner and runner-up, Banbridge and Il Est Francais are both running again but their ante-post prices have hovered at around 20-1 for weeks which is a real indicator Friday’s race is definitely a vintage edition.
The best of the home defenders could be The Jukebox Man, owned by Harry Redknapp, and Jango Baie, last year’s Arkle winner who Nicky Henderson believes will be better for this longer trip. Both were solid novice chasers last year but are stepping into open Grade One territory for the fist time here against some very big beasts and might not yet be ready for this class of competition. If their Punchestown struggle hasn’t left a mark on Gaelic Warrior or Fact To File, they could lay on another classic and the best way to pick the winner might be to toss a coin.
Nicky Henderson has harvested the Christmas Hurdle in recent seasons, winning seven of the last ten 10 editions, including a hat-trick with that enduring soap opera of a horse, Constitution Hill. With ‘Connie’ confined to barracks this year to try figure out why he isn’t able to jump obstacles anymore, Sir Gino has been rerouted from a planned a chasing career back to hurdles. He hasn’t been seen in public since he trounced the useful Ballyburn at in a Kempton novice chase a year ago, but the brilliant five-year old may not need to be rock hard fit to win a race where the standard of opposition is unintimidating.
The loveable, but lucky, mare Golden Ace won the Champion Hurdle last year only because State Man fell at the last but would still prove be a popular winner.
Anzadam is the only Irish entry but is an uncertain traveller as he is also owned by the Donnelly family who have Sir Gino in the race.
He was beaten by Golden Ace at Newcastle in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle last month and although he will come on for the run, he needs to show a little more willingness to hop into the trenches and fight.
Sir Gino was an exceptionally impressive novice hurdler and if his chasing excursion and the long layoff hasn’t blunted his raw speed, then he should win this race doing handstands.
If Anzadam does stay at home, then he is likely to run in the December Hurdle on Monday. This looks to be a much deeper grade one contest than the Kempton offering with five of the likely runners rated higher than Sir Gino, for now at least. The betting is dominated by the three mares, Brighterdaysahead, Wodhooh, and Lossiemouth. Brighterdaysahead won this race by thirty 30 spectacular lengths last Christmas, an effort that may have bottomed her out as she ran poorly in her two subsequent seasonal outings.
Gordon Elliott was planning a novice chasing campaign for her, but a couple of small setbacks interrupted that plan and she too has been rerouted to hurdles. Wodhooh won a Cheltenham Festival handicap easily last spring and looked ready for the top table when winning a Grade Two on her reappearance at Ascot last month. Although Lossiemouth seems to have been around forever she is still only a six-year-old and the unfortunate recent injury to her stablemate State Man means a welcome promotion from restricted mares contests to open company. She is already the favourite for the Champion Hurdle in March, and an impressive performance next Monday would consolidate that position.
The two-mile division should provide some red-hot contests this season with the Irish trio of Il Etait Temps, Majborough, and Marine Nationale likely to dominate the Grade One contests all the way to next April. Il Etait Temps looked like an exceptional horse when trouncing Jonbon in the Tingle Creek at Sandown three weeks ago, but he’s put his feet up for Christmas to prepare for a spring campaign.
Majborough has looked equally impressive at times but jumping errors have cost this giant of an animal dearly, including in last year’s Arkle when he made an absolute howler at the second last and was still only beaten half a length by Jango Baie. He jumped like an amateur again in his seasonal reappearance at Cork recently and if he is to handle Marine Nationale on Saturday, he will need to be flawless at his fences.
Barry Connell was planning to run Marine at Navan last month but postponed on account of the ground to wait for Leopardstown. In contrast with Majborough he is a brilliantly consistent jumper and his pilot, Seán Flangan, has no doubts of his ability or readiness, remarking earlier this week that: “He’s completely different to anything I have ever sat on before, either in a race or in work. I know I had never ridden a Champion Chase winner before, but this fella just gives you a different feel to anything else. He’s a brilliant jumper.
" When you’re on his back you don’t feel he’s leaving the ground at all when he gets to a fence. He’s lightning at getting from A to B. You’re up and over the fence before you know you’ve even taken off.”
