Silviniaco Conti has become the Leonardo di Caprio of National Hunt racing. Fine performance after fine peformance have brought him a Mildmay Novices, a Charlie Hall, a Denman Chase, a Betfair Bowl, two runnings of both the Betfair Chase and King George and still no one will give him an Oscar. It’s about time he was acclaimed.

In hindsight

How did Don Poli go off at 12/1 to win the Martin Pipe Conditionals Jockeys Hurdle at last year’s Festival?

Panto flop

Irving fluffed his lines in the Christmas Hurdle though there was an excuse. It’s the panto season - but did he miss the audition for Puss In Boots?

Poli plot

Looking at the contenders for the RSA Chase with the front-runners King’s Palace and Coneygree likely to take each other on, it looks set up to be a test of stamina and the one horse fitting that bill from the Christmas action was Don Poli.

Given that the JLT Novices is a Grade 1 over a distance that looks ideal for Valseur Lido, and Gigginstown aim to win Grade 1 races, you wouldn’t fancy Patrick Mullins’ chances of getting on Don Poli for the National Hunt four-miler.

Strutting his stuff

Since he first jumped a fence three years ago, Sprinter Sacre has been the poster boy of National Hunt racing. After his Champion Chase victory in 2013, the impressive two mile champion was compared to James Bond by his trainer and Brad Pitt by some others.

However he might have more competition for the starring role had he showed up at Leopardstown. Watching the Fly walking around the parade ring Ted Walsh told RTÉ viewers “He reminds me of Gillian Anderson in that film The Fall.”

Not sure where the comparisons begin and end but this sexy beast also has 21 Grade 1s. Sprinter Sacre - who are ya?

Lizzy leads

Recently turned professional Lizzy Kelly looks sure to make a bigger impression this year with the backing of the Nick Williams team. It was perhaps fitting that she won the first race of 2014 on Aubusson at Cheltenham and the last National Hunt race of the year on After Eight Sivola at Taunton on Tuesday. British racing needs a top lady rider.

TV Racing

With so much racing action over the Christmas period, to attend meant missing many gems on the airwaves. Setanta’s free to air Christmas Day documentary on Paddy Mullins was a perfectly pitched tribute and worth a look when repeated.

The tempo was of a faster nature as the Paddy Power Chase drew to a close. Dessie Scahill on ATR got some criticism for mixing up the two John Breslin runners but distinguishing caps should be just that - not of a similar colour. On RTÉ radio Richard Pugh left no one in doubt how their selection was travelling through the race. Even days later in replay, the excitement levels reached the high decibels. As with the station’s GAA coverage, sometimes you feel the excitement better when you can’t see the action and just listen.

Finally, Today FM carried an insightful interview with Davy Russell during a recap of the sporting year by John Duggan on Wednesday.

Russell on the Gold Cup - “I’ve ridden 100 Gold Cup winners round the garden since I was five years old but I never thought it would feel the way it did to do it.”