IRELAND’S Christmas Festival schedule is set for another significant revamp this winter, as Leopardstown’s Grade 1 three-mile novice chase will be axed to facilitate the return of the Grade 1 two-mile-one-furlong novice chase at the same track.

The move has led to a distance change for the Grade 1 Faugheen Novice Chase at Limerick - upped by a furlong and a half to now be run over two miles and five furlongs this Christmas.

The Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association has hit out at the decision to remove the Leopardstown Grade 1 registered as the Fort Leney Novice Chase - a race that only drew four runners last year (three of which were trained by Gordon Elliott). However, it had been won by high-class performers like Monkfish, Delta Work, Our Duke, Shattered Love, Gaillard Du Mesnil and Grangeclare West across the last decade.

There was much discussion after Horse Racing Ireland rolled out changes to last year’s festive schedule, removing the two-mile-one-furlong novice chase previously run as the Racing Post Novice Chase in a bid to enhance the competitiveness of the Grade 1 programme. However, they did in turn promote a similar-distance novice chase at Naas to Grade 2 status for early January (won last season by Ile Atlantique).

Willie Mullins, seemingly not pleased by the decision to shelve the Racing Post Novice Chase, decided to send Ballyburn to Kempton last Christmas instead. That Leopardstown option is now back on the menu for 2025, while the Naas race will be deleted from the programme in order to “keep the competitive edge around the novice chase programme”.

A HRI spokesperson told The Irish Field: “There was a sub-committee set up in 2023 to look at the pattern. The pattern committee, which is made up of and has the involvement of trainers, owners, breeders, racecourses and so on, recommended there should be two Grade 1 novice chases over the Christmas period rather than three - the Faugheen and Fort Leney - to achieve more competitiveness.

Committee decision

“In a review of the pattern this June, the committee recommended sticking to two novice chases over Christmas, but given the way [the changes] had worked out, they suggested reinstating the two-mile-one-furlong race at Leopardstown, deleting the three-mile Fort Leney and extending the Faugheen an extra furlong and a half.”

It’s understood that some of the views expressed at the committee meeting were that often Ireland’s best three-mile chasers do not step up to three miles in the first half of the campaign, and that two miles and five furlongs, likely on softer ground, represents a reasonable test for a staying novice chaser. The 2022 Faugheen was won by Gerri Colombe, who came within a short-head of winning that season’s Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham, while the following year’s winner, Gaelic Warrior, has won Grade 1s over three miles and further.

Feidhlim Cunningham, chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association, insists that Leopardstown three-miler held an important place in the programme.

“We welcome the reinstatement of the two-mile-one-furlong Grade 1 at Leopardstown but are very much opposed to removing the three-mile race as a result of it,” said Cunningham.

“That race is an essential part of the National Hunt calendar and removing it leaves us with just one three-mile Grade 1 novice chase, which falls at Punchestown at the very end of the season. For a country that excels in staying chasers, the removal of this race doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

“Of the last five winners, three went on to win at the Cheltenham Festival and the ratings they’ve achieved stack up strongly.”

’Best left alone’

He added: “We feel the change to the distance at Limerick is unnecessary too. That race has been performing well year-on-year, and extending the trip isn’t needed when you take into account there are no additional fences to be jumped. Overall, we felt this was just best left alone.”

Qualification for the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival could be impacted by the Christmas rejig, given the need to have finished in the first four in a chase over an extended two miles and seven furlongs or further.

Based on last year’s programme, without the Fort Leney, there would have been no graded option for a gelding in Ireland over further than two miles and six furlongs from between November 23rd (Florida Pearl Novice Chase) to January 26th (Naas Novice Chase).

Last season’s Florida Pearl (won by Stellar Story) drew only three runners, all trained by Elliott and owned by Gigginstown, while the Naas Novice Chase, won by Dancing City, attracted a field of five.

Separately, two races have also been subject to downgrades this winter from Grade 3 to listed level for failing to maintain their minimum required average rating; the Jezki Hurdle at Down Royal on October 31st, and the Winning Fair Juvenile Hurdle at Naas in February.

There are further changes to pattern bumpers for the 2025/’26 season, where all graded and listed bumpers are to exclude seven-year-olds, as well as horses who won a graded bumper in the previous season. Runners must not have run more than six times, and they cannot appear in a bumper if having run over hurdles (excluding academy hurdles).

HRI also noted on Friday that Grade 1 winners will now be excluded from the Grade 3 Liss A Paoraigh Mares’ Bumper at the Punchestown Festival.