IN a Savills Chase that featured a galaxy of stars, Affordale Fury proved quite the surprise Christmas act for Noel Meade - though it certainly wasn’t a surprise to everyone given he was sent off at 7/1, only half a point bigger than the reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup winner.

Without taking anything away from Noel Meade, Sam Ewing and Philip Polly, who deserve major credit for rolling the dice while being rated 19lb inferior to Galopin Des Champs, the 2025 Savills had the feel of a race that wasn’t peak target for many of the winner’s key rivals.

Willie Mullins’ aforementioned Leopardstown powerhouse was making his belated seasonal return after a setback, and connections had indicated earlier this season they were training him to peak for Cheltenham, while Martin Brassil mentioned in the lead-up that Fastorslow was “probably not ready to have a real hard race yet”. Inothewayurthinkin, who had been a 15/8 shot in the morning, was sent off an easy-to-back 13/2 chance and never looked like his old self in racing on and off the bridle before being the last of nine finishers.

Perhaps it was against that backdrop, with decent winter ground likely to be more to his liking than others, that punters came for Affordale Fury and backed him into 7/1 (from a morning price of 25/1). Ewing, riding with supreme confidence after a big-race treble the previous afternoon, took command on the front end and - in spite of some right-leaning jumping - conjured up a clear career-best from the 2023 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle runner-up.

Swinging off the home turn, Galopin Des Champs looked like he might just have another Christmas hit in his locker - leading the field in his bid for a third straight Savills. However, the lack of a run for 242 days since the Punchestown Festival might just have caught up with him, as his effort levelled off a touch come the closing stages.

Affordale Fury, fit from seconds at Gowran and Down Royal before a recent Thurles success, was reported to be in the form of his life coming here and found plenty for Ewing’s urgings. In the end, he drew two and a half lengths clear of another joker in the pack, former Grand National hero I Am Maximus at 50/1. It was a superb effort from him under Derek O'Connor.

Galopin Des Champs was another three quarters of a length back in third, as Grangeclare West completed a 2-3-4 for Closutton. Fastorslow was beaten a total of nine and a quarter lengths in sixth.

Meade, who was becoming the joint-most successful trainer in Savills Chase history on five wins (alongside Michael Hourigan), said: “This is fabulous. Philip has been very lucky with me with the couple of horses he’s had. We haven’t too many but the couple of horses we have turned to gold. When this horse was second in the Albert Bartlett as a novice hurdler, we were really looking forward to him as a chaser. He won his novice chase and then things went wrong; he missed the whole of the next season. He was sort of left in no man’s land.

Road to Christmas

“I was kind of saving him last season for the Irish National and he would have got into it. He obviously would have been hard enough to beat in it but things went wrong again. He ran very well at Gowran [when second to Western Fold], then headed for the stars at Down Royal and he ran a very big race there [to finish second to Envoi Allen]. He didn’t jump as well as I thought he might. Then he went to Thurles, which he didn’t really handle that well, but he won anyway.

“I told Philip that whatever happened today, this was him because he could not be any better than he is. He worked the other day and worked the sight out of your eyes, he was unbelievable. He went up with a fast horse, who couldn’t stay with him. I said ‘this horse is in some nick’.

“Then Donagh got suspended and we had to go back to Sam, who is having a great meeting. I’m so grateful to all my team at home; one in particular, my travelling head girl Emma Connolly. She’s fantastic and lives with these horses all the time. I couldn’t train without her, Damien McGillick and Paul Cullen.

“I’ve only got about 14 or 15 jumpers, most of the others are on the flat. We’ll probably have 50 or 60 for the flat next year, and I’ll be happy with that.”

On being told that Affordale Fury is now priced between 10/1 and 16/1 for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, Meade responded: “I think the further he goes, the better he’ll be. If he gets a straight run at the Gold Cup, I don’t see why not. I always felt we could be up there.”

Ewing successfully deputised for the injured J.J. Slevin aboard Solness a day earlier, and nearly made it a Grade 1 double when Talk The Talk exited at the last. He was filling in for the suspended Donagh Meyler here, and was basking in the glow of a magic festive window.

“My heart goes out to Donagh. It’s really been a week of fortunes for me,” said Ewing, after winning the ninth Grade 1 of his career.

Gold hopes

“It wasn’t the initial plan to make the running but he took me there after jumping the first so well. He was going a little to his right but I wasn’t losing many lengths and he was always taking me to the next fence. I always felt I had plenty of horse.

“I don’t see why he can’t be involved in these big chases again after, based on what he did today. He probably had fitness on some of the others that would have been to his advantage, but he’s improving run to run. I don’t see why he can’t be a Gold Cup horse.”

Paul Townend cut a frustrated figure after the defeat of Galopin Des Champs, who was pushed out to 7/1 (from 5/1) to regain his Cheltenham crown in March. Willie Mullins was certainly pleased with the showing, though.

“I was very happy with him, he looked like he was going to win after landing over the second,” said the champion trainer.

“He just missed his prep race and that told on him, I think, going to the last. He got a breather and still came back after the last. I was happy with him.

DRF calling

“I’m disappointed he didn’t win but I didn’t expect him to win; it was his first run of the season and it was a tough contest for having his first run. I think Paul was happy, he won’t be swapping him anyway. It would look the plan to come back for the DRF.”

Mullins added: “I thought I Am Maximus was unlucky. Given a different path from the second last, he might have gone very close. He ran a cracker.”

Gavin Cromwell said his team would be looking into why Inothewayurthinkin ran as poorly as he did, beaten 41 lengths after a 53-length defeat in the John Durkan.

“Listen, we’re obviously very disappointed,” said Cromwell.

“He never travelled at all. He didn’t show any spark and jumped as he did. It was too bad to be true. We’ll get him home and checked out. We obviously expected better today. He should have at least travelled well.”

Inothewayurthinkin remains favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup at between 5/1 and 6/1 (from 7/2).