Donn McClean on the Irish challenge at Cheltenham

It looks like Willie Mullins is going to have about 40 runners at the Cheltenham Festival next week, and it looks like Gordon Elliott is going to have about 30.  

Between them, they obviously spearhead the Irish challenge, but there is also strength in-depth outside the big two.  Here are five other trainers who could make their presence felt.

Henry de Bromhead

Henry de Bromhead is no stranger to Cheltenham Festival success, victory for Sizing Australia in the 2011 Cross-Country Chase taking his tally to three after Sizing Europe’s Arkle and Sizing Europe’s Champion Chase, but this year he fields his strongest Cheltenham team ever.

Petit Mouchoir is a big player in the Champion Hurdle.  A progressive novice last season, the Gigginstown House horse has cut loose this term, winning the Ryanair Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas and returning there at the end of January to land the Irish Champion Hurdle.  Still just six, there is every chance that the Al Namix gelding will progress again.

Champagne West could also be a player in the Gold Cup, especially if the ground comes up on the easy side.  Roger Brookhouse’s horse put up a massive performance to land the Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park last time, getting out in front and jumping with metronomic precision to win as easily as he liked in a fast time.

He won the Thyestes Chase off a mark of 154.  To put that into context, Djakadam won the Thyestes off a mark of 145 in 2015 before going on to finish second to Coneygree in the Gold Cup, On His Own won it off a mark of 142 in 2014 before he went to Cheltenham via the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse and went down by a short head to Lord Windermere.  And Champagne West won twice at Cheltenham as a novice chaser when he was with Philip Hobbs.  He is proven at the track.

De Bromhead has numbers too.  Monalee is an exciting novice hurdler and he will be of interest in either the Neptune Hurdle or the Albert Bartlett Hurdle, wherever he goes.  Some Plan and Ordinary World go for the Arkle, possibly Three Stars too, Sub Lieutenant goes for the Ryanair Chase, Marinero has options.  It’s a strong team.

Jessica Harrington

It must have been a tough decision for Jessica Harrington to make, the decision to skip Cheltenham with Our Duke.  Winner of the Grade 1 Neville Hotels Novice Chase over three miles at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival, and second, just out-paced by Disko, over two miles and five furlongs in the Grade 1 Flogas Chase last month, he had the ideal profile for the RSA Chase.  It is a brave decision, taken in the best interest of the horse.  Fair play to the trainer and the Cooper Family Syndicate: they just didn’t think that Cheltenham was the thing for their horse this year.

Even so, the Moone trainer has a lot to look forward to next week.  Sizing John has a real chance of winning the Gold Cup.  The Midnight Legend gelding was a top class two-mile novice hurdler and a top class two-mile novice chaser for Henry de Bromhead, but it looks like he has progressed again for stepping up in trip.

He stayed on strongly on his penultimate run to get the better of the talented Sub Lieutenant and land the Kinloch Brae Chase over two and a half miles at Thurles.  The Ryanair Chase was the talk then, but he stepped forward again when he stepped up to three miles last time to land the Irish Gold Cup.

Admittedly, they did not go a great gallop through the early stages of that race, but Sizing John still stayed on strongly up the hill on the soft ground under a strong drive from Robbie Power to get the better of Empire Of Dirt and Don Poli.  He has another two and a half furlongs to go in the Gold Cup, and we don’t know that he will get it, but we don’t know that he won’t.  By Midnight Legend out of a mare who won over two miles and five furlongs, there has to be a good chance that he will.

There is precedent for top class two-mile chasers stepping up in trip to win the Gold Cup the following year.  Kicking King did it, War Of Attrition did it.  Best Mate would have run in the Arkle, not the RSA Chase, had Foot and Mouth not intervened the year before he won the first of his three Gold Cups.  Even Kauto Star ran in the Champion Chase the year before – and won the Tingle Creek Chase three months before – he won the first of his two.

Third in a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and second in an Arkle in two runs at Cheltenham, Sizing John obviously goes well at the track and under Cheltenham Festival conditions.  He is a super jumper of fences who is at his best on good ground and, still only seven, he has buckets of potential for further progression as a staying chaser.

There are other big players on the Harrington team.  Jezki has been a big player all his life.  The 2014 Champion Hurdle hero made a pleasing return from almost two years on the sidelines when he won at Navan in January, and he didn’t run badly last time at Gowran Park on unsuitably soft ground, when he was beaten by Tombstone, who is probably better than most people think, or thought at the time anyway.

At the age of nine, Jezki may not have Champion Hurdle pace, but he retains lots of his ability and, conqueror of Hurricane Fly in the World Series Hurdle at the 2015 Punchestown Festival on his only run to date over three miles, the Stayers’ Hurdle is the race for him.

Forge Meadow is also interesting in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.  Second to Shattered Love at Fairyhouse in February, the Beneficial mare looked very good in beating the boys in a Grade 2 contest at Naas 10 days ago.  She showed a fine turn of foot that day to come away from good novices in Joey Sasa and Any Second now, and that turn of foot will be a potent weapon on better ground at Cheltenham.

Noel Meade

The Noel Meade Cheltenham travails are well documented, the Hill Society and Harbour Pilot and Native Dara defeats interwoven with Sausalito Bay and Nicanor and Go Native and Very Wood joy.

Very Wood raced in the Gigginstown House colours, as will Disko and A Genie In Abottle next week.  Disko was dynamite in the Flogas Chase at Leopardstown last time.  Sean Flanagan bounced him out of the gate and took up the running at the third fence, from which point neither saw another rival.

There is something about a grey horse bowling along in front and jumping fences, and there is no greater stage on which to watch a steeplechaser flow than over the six fences on Leopardstown’s back straight.  Disko flowed that day all right, and he kept on well up the hill to provide his rider with his first Grade 1 win.

The Martaline gelding probably just didn’t get home over three miles in the Neville Hotels Chase over Christmas when he finished a close-up third behind Our Duke and Coney Island.  That is strong form but, while he could return to three miles in time, he is more effective over two and a half miles for now.  Over the intermediate trip, his rider can be as aggressive on him as he likes, and the JLT Chase is the race for him at Cheltenham.

By contrast, A Genie In Abottle is all stamina.  Winner of his maiden hurdle over three miles at Naas last March, the Gigginstown House horse ran a cracker on his second run over fences this term to split Martello Tower and Acapella Bourgeois over an inadequate two miles and five furlongs at Fairyhouse in early December.  He stepped forward from that when, stepped up to three miles, he stayed on strongly to beat Blazer and Mall Dini on soft ground back at Fairyhouse later that month.

He was beaten by Anibale Fly at Naas last time, but he was only just beaten by that horse who is talented on his day, the pair of them were miles clear, and three miles on goodish ground probably wasn’t a sufficient test for the Beneficial gelding.  He could come into his own over four miles in the JT McNamara National Hunt Chase.

Mouse Morris

Difficult to believe that it is 34 years since Mouse Morris had his first Cheltenham Festival winner as a trainer (Buck House, Supreme Novices’ Hurdle), which was just six years after his last winner there as a rider (Skymas, Champion Chase).

Alpha Des Obeaux has a real chance of adding to Morris’ Cheltenham tally in the RSA Chase.  The Saddler Maker gelding was the horse who got closest to Thistlecrack in the Stayers’ Hurdle last season.  He was admittedly beaten by a fairly easy seven lengths by Colin Tizzard’s horse, but he finished over 20 lengths clear of the next best.

A highly-talented novice hurdler, Alpha Des Obeaux was well beaten on his chasing debut at Tipperary in October, but he put that behind him with an easy win at Thurles later that month.  He followed up in a Grade 3 contest at Cork in November, although his task was admittedly simplified when his only real rival Westerner Lady made a bad mistake early on.

He did well to finish third in the Drinmore Chase over an inadequate two and a half miles, when he was ridden aggressively over the shorter trip, and that should have brought him forward for the Neville Hotels Novices’ Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.  However, he broke a blood vessel in that race and was pulled up.

It is not ideal that he is going to Cheltenham on the back of that run, but his trainer reports his horse in top form and ready to go.  And Mouse has his horses in top form, as evidenced by three winners from just six runners in the last two weeks.

The fact that Alpha Des Obeaux has not run since December is not a negative, given that he is trained by Morris.  He will appreciate the better ground, he will love the trip, and we know that he can operate under Cheltenham Festival conditions.

Pat Kelly

Pat Kelly has two big chances in two big handicaps.  Mall Dini has options, he is in the Ultima Handicap Chase and the National Hunt Chase as well as the Kim Muir, but it looks like the last-named race could be his target.

Presenting Percy looks up against it on the face of it in the Pertemps Final, given that he is set to race off a mark of 146.  He was raised 10lb by the Irish handicapper for winning off a mark of 130 at Fairyhouse 10 days ago, and his British mark is 6lb higher than his new Irish mark.   That means that he will have a minimum of 11st 10lb to carry in the Pertemps, and that is a lot.

That said, there is a chance that he will be up to the task.  He did win with plenty in hand at Fairyhouse over two and a half miles, and, crucially, he is progressive.  He is going to have to improve again if he is to win a Pertemps off a mark of 146, but he is only six and he has run just six times over hurdles, so he has the potential to find the magnitude of improvement that is required.

Mall Dini was great in the Pertemps Final last year, and Davy Russell was great on him.  Ridden with extreme patience, he didn’t hit the front until about 150 yards from the line, and he kept on well to get home by three parts of a length.

Philip Reynolds’ horse has not won in five attempts over fences this season, all five in beginners’ chases, but four of those runs were over two and a half miles or shorter, and all five were on soft or heavy ground.  

His British handicap rating of 143 is fair, just 2lb higher than his Irish mark and 4lb higher than the hurdles mark off which he won the Pertemps last year.  Proven under Cheltenham Festival conditions, he could progress again for stepping up in trip and for getting on some better ground. 

 * For more of Donn’s thoughts, visit www.donnmcclean.com.