MOST followers of sport love a good comeback story, so the win of Bob Olinger in the Lismullen Hurdle last week will have delighted many; perhaps we all got too carried away with him after the 2021 Ballymore, but if fans can’t get excited about an impressive winner of a Cheltenham novice hurdle, then what is the game about?

His initial runs over fences promised much but he looked a broken horse when winning the 2022 Turners by default and the decision to run him at Punchestown the following month backfired as he jumped awkwardly and again looked to have a physical issue.

Henry de Bromhead learned from that however and, when things weren’t going to plan last season after three defeats, he gave him time off after a late January run, and he returned here after 293 days looking more enthusiastic than he has in a while.

Whether he came back to his 2021 Cheltenham best is hard to know but he certainly did things in a more straightforward fashion. Rachael Blackmore was keen to delay her challenge longer than she had in this race last season, and he showed a decent attitude from the final furlong, his head carriage not as high as it has been in the past.

This race was speed-emphasising, the overall time 3.7 seconds slower than the earlier mid-grade handicap hurdle but 4.4 seconds quicker from two out and that type of contest seems to suit Bob Olinger for a couple of reasons: he has plenty of pace and might not want a battle from early in the race.

I have long thought he would be worth a go on the level, his trainer clearly capable in that code as he did have success with Jason The Militant who won a listed race reverting from hurdles, but his owners seem to have little interest in the flat, having had just five runners in Irish flat races in the last five years.

Next starts

His future targets are likely to be over hurdles and it will be interesting to see what trip he competes over on his next start.

He has the pace but perhaps not the hurdling technique for two miles, while a slog at three miles may not be ideal, so sticking to intermediate distances might be more likely.

He is not in the Hatton’s Grace however, the Lismullen a target in itself to get him back on track, and races like the Relkeel, Boyne and Aintree Hurdles would seem on the cards.

De Bromhead left little doubt with his post-race comments that Bob Olinger was ready for this and, with Zanahiyr having had a run beforehand, the third Home By The Lee has run a fine race on his first start since Aintree against rivals that were sharper than him.

Home By The Lee won the race last year but had a recent run and that was a more stamina-sapping version of the race, the setup this time nothing like as suitable.

Best at the weights

Making his own running looked less than ideal. He did well to finish as close as he did, coming out best at the weights under a Grade 1 penalty, and it should set him up well for a repeat bid in the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown.

That win may still have been dismissed a little, but he backed it up with a fifth-place finish in the Stayers' at Cheltenham, shaping much better than that too as he made a terrible mistake around halfway that would have ended the race for many.

TROYTOWN day deserves its iconic status in Co Meath and the race itself is one my personal favourites, run at a local track and marking the start of winter, always well-attended and typically full of drama.

That drama started at the first fence this year where two horses fell and another was brought down, among them the relatively well-fancied Farouk D’Alene and Largy Debut, while one of the favourites Thedevilscoachman was slightly hampered and never got into a jumping rhythm thereafter.

The resolute Coko Beach, who somehow is only an eight-year-old, put up a good weight-carrying performance under 11st 5lb, and this race has become one for the top weights of late with four of the last five winners, and six of the last eight, carrying at least that burden.

Coko Beach defied a higher official rating (153) than any of them and per Horse Race Base, this was the highest mark a horse has won off since at least 1997.

He has now gone up to 161, a mark that puts him in the top 15 Irish chasers, and graded races are likely on the cards with something like the Bobbyjo Chase a possible target.

Good effect

He was ridden by Danny Gilligan, a claimer Gordon Elliott has used to good effect this year, while the runner-up Limerick Lace was also claimer-ridden, Aidan Kelly on board, and this does seem something that the J.P. McManus team are doing more frequently in recent years.

Of those that finished down the field, the sixth Watch House Cross went with some promise over a trip that seemed to stretch him.

His jumping was not always fluent, but he travelled strongly to the turn in and made tired errors at each of the last two fences. An easier test should suit better.

Macs Charm was a big drifter throughout the day before being pulled up, but the market negative suggested that this run was needed and he went quite well in the circumstances.

Racing in mid-division, he was just the wrong side of keen but jumped fluently, something that was a worry based on his novice chase runs, and he should improve for this.

His best efforts have tended to come in the second half of the season and with his liking for soft ground something like the Thyestes makes sense.

THE month is not quite over but November seems to have been a particularly busy period with rescheduled meetings on top of planned ones and it might be worth taking stock of what trainers have been on song.

No prizes for guessing that Gordon Elliott comes out on top with 29 winners this month, more than a winner a day at the time of writing, followed in by Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead with 12 and 10 winners respectively, Gavin Cromwell not far behind with eight.

Mouse Morris, Eoin McCarthy, Edward Cawley and Stuart Crawford have had two winners apiece, the last-named having several horses run well at big prices during the Navan Racing Festival.

Many of Cromwell’s winners have been in quality races via the likes of Letsbeclearaboutit and Only By Night, while de Bromhead has done well in maiden hurdles, half of his 10 winners coming in such races, several of them promising types.

Willie is coming

But nothing is more inevitable than that Willie Mullins is coming, perhaps as soon as this weekend. For a stable that is apparently quiet, he has still had 12 winners this month for an enviable strike rate of 29.3%.

Some of his horses look to be needing a run, and Paul Townend is riding accordingly.

Take the two Joe Donnelly-owned runners in the maiden hurdles at Navan last weekend. Townend dropped both in, by maiden hurdle standards, and one suspects that similar horses in January and February would be ridden more forcefully to use their fitness and ability.

The old Morgiana Hurdle meeting has been a typical starting point for Mullins and during the last five seasons he has had four, five, three, two and three winners over that weekend; perhaps that will change a little this year with the John Durkan Chase added to the fixture.

Mullins is not a trainer to be rushed, however, as his entries for Fairyhouse next weekend suggest.

Of his eight entries in the Grade 1 novice races, none could reasonably be described as a true winter horse, but nothing is surer than those horses are coming.