Dinoblue
(Willie Mullins)
William Hill Champion Chase (Grade 1) - Tuesday
With El Fabiolo and Jonbon bound for the Grade 1 bet365 Celebration Chase at Sandown today, Dinoblue has an excellent chance to round off her season with a second win at the highest level.
Despite being sent off 15/8 favourite for the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, she was quite uneasy to back throughout that day and couldn’t quite get on terms with fellow J.P. McManus-owned winner Limerick Lace, a proven stronger stayer who was in receipt of 5lb from Dinoblue.
Dropping back to the minimum distance won’t be any issue for the Doctor Dino mare, who notched a seven-and-a-half-length win in Grade 1 company at this season’s Leopardstown Christmas Festival before finishing closest to El Fabiolo at the Dublin Racing Festival.
The Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old won at this meeting last year in a handicap chase on good to yielding and she proved she’s able to take a sequence of races towards the end of a campaign last season when going from Naas in February to the Grand Annual at Cheltenham, the Fairyhouse Easter Festival and Punchestown.
The market suggests her main rival will be Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Captain Guinness, who had gone 0-13 in his previous attempts at Grade 1 level before making the breakthrough at Cheltenham.
While few would begrudge the nine-year-old his big day in the sun, the race probably fell apart to a certain extent last time, with Jonbon missing the meeting due to Nicky Henderson’s poor stable form, El Fabiolo being pulled up early after a mistake and Edwardstone falling two out when in the process of running disappointingly.
Dinoblue, two years younger than Captain Guinness, should have more upside and represents a trainer bidding for six consecutive wins in this race, as well as a ninth in total. Current odds of around 2/1 look more than fair and she will probably go off shorter on the day.
Answer To Kayf
(Terence O’Brien)
Connolly’s Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Series Final - Wednesday
Terence O’Brien is just one winner away from equalling his best season over jumps and there’s every chance he can reach that marker in the €75,000 Connolly’s Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Series Final on day two of the meeting.
Answer To Kayf has been a steady improver through the season and posted a career-best effort when fourth in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival when last seen. The right horses appeared to come to the fore in that usually strong contest and he only failed by two and three quarters of a length.
This Punchestown event, run over just shy of two and a half miles, is confined to horses who cost €45,000 as stores, so the Kayf Tara gelding is eligible as a result of his €35,000 purchase back at the Derby Sale in 2019.
From a look at the initial entries, Answer To Kayf is the clear top-rated contender of those with official marks, and he previously had the measure of one of his other smart rivals, Blizzard Of Oz, when the pair clashed at Naas back in February.
The biggest concern surrounding his chances is whether he will be able to run to his maximum here after showing up so well at Cheltenham, and having been on the go since winning a Limerick maiden hurdle in October. However, as an eight-year-old, he mightn’t be your typical novice trying to back up another run at the end of a campaign.
Rated 138, he has the necessary quality to prove hard to beat in this year’s renewal despite carrying top-weight.
Olympic Man
(Willie Mullins)
Louis Fitzgerald Hotel Hurdle - Wednesday or SBK Gold Trophy Handicap Hurdle (Listed) - Saturday
Olympic Man has several options during the Punchestown Festival and perhaps he will be of most interest if tackling the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel Hurdle on day two.
Willie Mullins-trained stablemate Mistergif tops the ratings at entry stage with a mark of 141 but has been to both Cheltenham and Aintree this spring, and didn’t look to have progressed by any great degree in the Top Novices’ Hurdle when last seen finishing a safely-held fourth to Mystical Power.
A rating of 137 makes Olympic Man the joint-second highest rated runner in the line-up (of those with published marks) and there could yet be improvement to come from him, though if Paul Townend rode the same yard’s Anotherway it would obviously be a negative for the selection’s chances.
His jumping is one area of his game that he has scope to get better in, as seen last time at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival when finishing second after trading as short as 1/10 in the in-running exchange markets. Losing momentum with a mistake at the second last didn’t help his cause by any means.
That €50,000 handicap hurdle was run over three miles, and dropping in trip ought to be a help to him after possibly getting outstayed on heavy ground last time. The Louis Fitzgerald Hurdle is run over an extended two miles and three furlongs, while next Saturday’s €100,000 SBK Gold Trophy Handicap Hurdle is over two miles and three furlongs. Either of those options would look to suit fine in terms of distance if his jumping gets sharper.
He has the potential to be better than his mark and has looked an improved performer since returning from a mid-season break.
Kopek Des Bordes
(Willie Mullins)
Race & Stay At Punchestown Champion Bumper (Grade 1) - Wednesday
It’s difficult to say at this stage that the older band of bumper horses in Ireland this season are a particularly outstanding generation.
Broadly speaking, there was a real struggle to identify one standout Irish bumper hope heading into the Cheltenham Festival and Jasmin De Vaux was workmanlike in getting the better of the highly-touted Romeo Coolio last month.
Those Cheltenham rivals are entered again for this Grade 1 prize, yet the horse who caught my eye in the list of possible runners is the Willie Mullins-trained Kopek Des Bordes - a once-raced four-year-old who blew away his rivals in the valuable Tattersalls Ireland George Mernagh Memorial Sales Bumper.
Racing on testing ground at the end of the first two days of the Fairyhouse Easter Festival, he showed real gears and staying power to put up a 13-length hammering of his rivals, with the field very well spread out in a race run to have no hiding place pace-wise.
The No Risk At All four-year-old has a really excellent pedigree too, being related to a host of blacktype performers.
No four-year-old has won the Race & Stay At Punchestown Champion Bumper since Hidden Universe in 2010, but very few have tried in recent years and the vast majority of those who have were big-priced outsiders. The seconds in 2011 and 2015 were also both aged four.
If connections allow him to have a crack at this company, it will be a fair indicator of the regard he is held in and he could well go off shorter than his current price of 7/1.
Mister Policeman
(Willie Mullins)
EMS Copiers Novice Handicap Chase (Listed) - Friday
Willie Mullins has been bossing the €100,000 EMS Copiers Novice Handicap Chase in recent years with highly-rated sorts, and his Mister Policeman will be of definite interest if flying the flag for Closutton in this year’s renewal.
Rated 149, the Susannah Ricci-owned six-year-old has long been thought highly of by connections but has seemingly been taking a little while to bring his smart homework to the track.
Having gained confidence in novice chases the last twice at Punchestown and Thurles, without being overly flashy, perhaps he could be just the type to save his best for a handicap chase, and for stepping up to two miles and five furlongs.
He has the right profile for this type of race and would make more appeal trying to test out his mark here than if taking up one of his Grade 1 assignments elsewhere during the week.