WHEN does the National Hunt season proper begin? Some might say the first Cheltenham meeting which takes place later this month. Some might say Down Royal, for their big Grade 1 chase. Some even go earlier and say Listowel’s Harvest Festival where you’d often see a good novice chaser.

With no official start, unlike the flat season, the jumps season begins whenever you want it to and for many it will start today at Gowran Park. The feature Grade 2 PWC Champion Chase holds eight runners and not one of them is rated below 150. There are also three former Cheltenham Festival winners there: Yorkhill, The Storyteller and Shattered Love.

The last mentioned is the most interesting. In a recent interview with in this paper, Eddie O’Leary revealed how badly the eight-year-old mare was affected by the firm ground in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown last Christmas. That caused her to jar up and with that, you can basically write off the second half of her season.

She remains a really exciting mare and the hope is she can get her career back on track today on the soft ground she favours. Her form over this trip is top class – a second to Min in the John Durkan, second to Al Boum Photo in the Ryanair Gold Cup and a win in the JLT Chase two seasons ago.

The classy jumps action continues tomorrow at Tipperary where there are three Grade 3 races. The pick of the bunch looks to be the two-and-a-half-mile Like A Butterfly Novice Chase, won by the likes of Le Richebourg, Rathvinden and First Lieutenant in recent seasons.

Champagne Classic and Moon Over Germany look the most interesting going forward. The former is a second-season novice, having been injured leading up to Cheltenham last season. He already looks ideal for the four-miler at Cheltenham.

Laurens will need all her toughness

LAURENS faces a tough test in her final race, the Group 1 Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket today.

Alongside Falmouth winner Veracious and the Matron one-two, Iridessa and Hermosa, Karl Burke’s filly was joint co-favourite of four with many bookmakers yesterday evening.

She won this contest last season and returns to defend her title at the behest of her trainer, who wanted to keep her over a mile instead of going back to seven furlongs for the Prix de la Foret, which was the preferred option of owner John Dance.

Laurens disappointed when sent over to defend her Matron Stakes title at Leopardstown last month but should be more at home at Newmarket. Whatever happens, the daughter of Siyouni has been a superstar for her connections with six Group 1 wins. That none of those wins were achieved by a winning margin of over three-quarters of a length depicts the type of tough filly she is.

In fact, Laurens has won Group 1s by every part of winning-margin anatomy there is: a neck, a head, a short-head and a nose.

Imaging aims to take off in Concorde

DERMOT Weld reintroduces his classy colt Imaging in the Group 3 Coolmore Home Of Champions Concorde Stakes at Tipperary tomorrow.

The son of Oasis Dream, a Group 3 winner earlier in the year, was last seen finishing second in a Group 2 in Baden-Baden. Weld has won five of the previous nine renewals of this contest so may well have been aiming Imaging here. The Juddmonte colt has fancier entries in Britain in the coming weeks and may well be travelled further in search of better opportunities after that.

Weld trained Yulong Gold Fairy to win this race last season and she is back to defend her title, but is now in the care of Jim Bolger. Ado McGuinness, whose had a tremendous season is double-handed with both Bowermann and Saltonstall.

Compiled by Ronan Groome