1. Ballyburn is the standout Mullins novice hurdler

It remains to be seen exactly which race he will line up in at the Cheltenham Festival, but Ballyburn went a long way to confirming himself as the top novice hurdler of the season so far in the Willie Mullins camp. He should take the world of beating wherever he goes.

Four of the last six winners of the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle have gone on to strike in either the Sky Bet Supreme or Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle, and the same fate looks highly likely for the 2024 scorer after this utterly dominant performance. Stretching seven lengths clear of the smart Slade Steel is no mean feat.

Prior to this showing, the pecking order of novice hurdlers in Britain and Ireland had looked largely murky, especially since some high-profile candidates were turned over by Readin Tommy Wrong in the rescheduled Lawlor’s Of Naas Novice Hurdle in January.

Despite the fact he chose wrongly in the opening three Grade 1s of the meeting, one man who will have been delighted by the fact there is a Dublin Racing Festival in the calendar is Paul Townend. This ultra-informative weekend will have given him seriously valuable answers in terms of where the various Mullins novices rank in-house, and on a wider scale.

This is especially true when it comes to the Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle, won by Dancing City, a 2020 Goffs Arkle Sale graduate sold from Clifton Farm to Leamore Horses. The winning trainer noted that he “looks ready made for the Albert Bartlett” after this strong staying success, while runner-up Predators Gold, who Townend had sided with, “looks more like a Baring Bingham horse” according to Mullins.

That could pave the way for Ballyburn to tackle the Supreme, though the Closutton genius would not be drawn on targets beyond the Dublin Racing Festival immediately afterwards. He did remark, however, that Ballyburn “did everything right over the minimum trip”. He looks banker material if pointed at the Festival curtain-raiser.

2. Value to be found in Champion Bumper scene

The same cannot be said regarding a standout in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper picture, a race that looks as uncertain as ever after the two-day Leopardstown highlight.

From the last five winners of the Grade 2 Donohue Marquees Future Stars Bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival, three ended up plundering the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham and the other two finished second, so it is often the race to watch for cracking the code in this division.

However, this year’s race wasn’t so conclusive. Impressive winner Jeroboam Machin has unfortunately since been ruled out for the season due to an injury, while the third and sixth, Redemption Day and A Dream To Share, are not eligible to run in the Cheltenham Grade 1.

Bearing that in mind, and the openness of overall division, the one who could be overpriced with a view to the Festival is runner-up You Oughta Know. Odds of 12/1 look plenty fair from an each-way perspective.

He wasn’t the stable’s first choice on jockey bookings but fared best from Willie Mullins’ five runners and was taking a massive step forward on his return from a 181-day break, having won bumpers at Kilbeggan and Galway last summer. It looks like he belongs in this company and might still be flying a little under the radar.

Generally speaking, this year’s Champion Bumper scene looks one where punters should attempt to fish around for value in given the lack of an absolute standout. At the time of writing, Gordon Elliott’s Jalon D’oudairies tops the ante-post market having beat the aforementioned Redemption Day and Switch From Diesel (second in the concluding mares’ bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival) - his form doesn’t look too shabby on the basis of the latest Leopardstown bumpers.

That said, the same stable’s Romeo Coolio appears to be held in the highest regard and it would be no shock if he ended up being a bigger player than his stablemate, despite having a less accomplished CV.

3. Senior chases look all sewn up by Mullins aces

Put simply, it’s difficult to envisage either of the Dublin Racing Festival’s two senior Grade 1 chase winners getting beaten at the Cheltenham Festival.

El Fabiolo looked to be operating at the top of his game in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase and it’s a case of full steam ahead to the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase now where, at the time of writing, he is as short as 4/11 to get the better of Jonbon again.

Likewise, Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs is 8/13 to make it back-to-back wins in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The fact he has been kept busy enough this season with three runs, including a monster Christmas performance in the Savills Chase, means he heads to Cheltenham with a different preparation than 12 months ago, but he will likely need to underperform not to collect in March.

As for the sole Grade 1 senior hurdle of the weekend, the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle, State Man clearly has a stiff challenge on his hands in the shape of Constitution Hill but he heads to the Cotswolds on the back of what arguably looked a career-best performance. He looks well in front of the rest in this division and will be ready to hoover up any crumbs that fall from the table.

4. Take a chance on Perceval at 12/1 for THE Kim Muir

There were a host of interesting runners to note from the Dublin Racing Festival with a view to the Cheltenham Festival’s handicaps, particularly in the O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey Leopardstown Handicap Chase won by Heart Wood.

The effort of fourth-placed Cool Survivor can probably be marked up a little given he got a little further back than ideal over an insufficient trip and was making just his fourth start over fences in such a competitive 25-runner affair. He might be a candidate for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase at 14/1.

However, at the current prices, 12/1 about luckless final-fence faller Perceval Legallois looks very fair for the same race. Running from 3lb out of the handicap, he was in the process of putting up a massive performance when coming to grief at the last, leaving Heart Wood to come home without a challenger on the run in.

The handicapper nudged him up 5lb to a mark of 137 after this, which isn’t overly harsh given he was racing from out of the handicap, and stepping up in trip in something like the Kim Muir would surely be a help for his jumping. He also proved his stamina with a win in the €100,000 Race And Stay At Leopardstown Handicap Hurdle over three miles at last year’s Dublin Racing Festival.

Another who looks overpriced for a possible Cheltenham handicap tilt is Absurde. Last year’s Ebor winner caught the eye when fourth to Ballyburn in the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle and is now eligible for handicaps at Cheltenham. The 16/1 about him for the County Hurdle looks big.

5. Novice chasing picture looks murkier than eveR AFTEr BLOWOUTS

Heading into the Dublin Racing Festival, it seemed as though the novice chasing division was one of the more straightforward scenes to assess. It looks anything but now.

Marine Nationale entered the weekend as a top-priced 4/6 chance to win the My Pension Expert Arkle at Cheltenham but fluffed his lines and now looks to have major questions to answer after beating only one rival home in the Goffs Irish Arkle.

Facile Vega, who was among the leading ante-post players in the Arkle, also failed to live up to the hype in third.

Day two’s Ladbrokes Novice Chase was even more disruptive to the Cheltenham picture. Gaelic Warrior was 4/5 favourite with some firms for the Turners Novices’ Chase but now finds himself priced as big as 8/1 (ante-post rules apply) after a dismal showing when falling at the last behind Fact To File.

That rival looks every inch a top-class prospect but uncertainty lingers over which target he will go to at Cheltenham, while we never got the chance to find out just how good Grangeclare West is against these rivals due to him getting cast in his box.

All in all, there are now more questions than answers hanging over the entire novice chasing division. One learning we did have from the weekend is that Fact To File appears to be the real deal. Wherever he runs, whether it be the Turners or Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, he will be tough to beat. Willie Mullins have never made any secret of the high regard he holds this horse in.