IF the novice hurdles gave clarity earlier in the meeting, the two open Grade 1s on Sunday’s card brought confusion. Solness made all in the Dublin Chase, but it was nothing like as simple as that and the race prompted a spirited discussion between presenter Hugh Cahill and three ex-jockeys on RTE Racing.

Cahill questioned what the riders in behind Solness were doing in the early-middle part of the race with Davy Russell, Andy McNamara and Jane Mangan suggesting they couldn’t have done much else.

In this individual case, I think Cahill was wrong in his assessment – reasoning below – but I would go to my grave to defend his right to ask the question as a punter and the defensiveness from Russell, McNamara and Mangan was over the top, as much as to suggest that current riders never give a bad ride.

Danny Mullins won this race from fences two to five when he got a long break on the field but it was anything but cheap lengths; he covered that part of the course five and a half seconds quicker than the runners in the following handicap chase, itself a well-run race, somewhere in the region of 22 to 27 lengths faster.

Finding flaws

In many cases, that would cause a horse to tire late but it is to Solness’s credit that he was able keep going late while it also pointed to flaws in the three that chased him home.

Marine Nationale again displayed an ungainly head carriage and paid for doing a lot of running between the final two fences, Gaelic Warrior was jumping right and losing ground at his fences, likely finding the ground too quick, while Rachael Blackmore bizarrely went the unfavoured inner route on Quilixios, horses from that yard out of form in any case.

Paul Townend might have the most questions to answer. When asked about Gaelic Warrior afterwards, Willie Mullins spoke about ‘the bigger spin of things’ and that he felt that horse was going to pull up at one point, and it did look as if Townend wanted to mind him with a view to getting back on slower ground or up in trip next time.

Headless race

The Irish Champion Hurdle was inconclusive in that it ended as a meaningful contest at the fourth last. Willie Mullins said afterwards that ‘both jockeys went out with no instructions’ (colour me sceptical on that but anyway) and both Danny Mullins and Paul Townend seemed to ride a headless race.

Other than the Champion Hurdle, the next strongest run race on the card was the Kopek Des Bordes race where the leaders got from the first to four out (the hurdle where Lossiemouth fell) in 2.09.6 whereas the two Champion Hurdle runners got there in 2.03.3, ballpark 25 lengths ahead.

That sort of gallop is hard to sustain for even the best horses and it could be argued that both were spared a very tough race. It does leave with a difficult Champion Hurdle puzzle.

State Man’s three runs this season have comprised a satisfactory return, a flop and an inconclusive win, while Lossiemouth has an impressive win, a strangely flat effort and a nasty fall.

Then there is also the fact that Paul Townend picked State Man on Friday morning. He doesn’t strike me as a man given to sentiment and we know that a peak State Man can’t beat a peak Constitution Hill, or anything close to it. What this says about Lossiemouth, I’m not sure, though Constitution Hill may not be the horse he was either.

Connections of Brighterdaysahead could only take positives about her Champion Hurdle credentials from what unfolded over the weekend.

Youngsters have ‘wow’ factor

GOING into the Dublin Racing Festival, it was hardly outlandish to think the Willie Mullins novice hurdle team was looking thin.

Salvator Mundi won a Moscow Flyer Novices that divided opinion, while his Jasmin De Vaux and his other Champion Bumper horses, from both Cheltenham and Punchestown, had been underwhelming. Those doubts are gone as the meeting produced not one, but two, standout performances in the division from Final Demand and Kopek Des Bordes.

Final Demand won the Nathaniel Lacy Novice Hurdle to take a Grade 1 on just his second start on the track and looked like an old hand in doing so; he jumped better than more experienced rivals and Paul Townend was unafraid to post him down along the rail amongst horses.

He got the ideal trip from there and pulled right away in the finish, recording a strong time and the only one in the field to do a finishing percentage of over 100%, the rest in the 90s as the pace took its toll.

Wow performance

This was his second ‘wow’ performance in two starts and Mullins seems intent on running him in the Turners ahead of the longer Bartlett, the latter tending to produce its share of randomness over the years.

One slight concern with targeting the shorter race is that he looks a stayer in time, his trainer mentioning afterwards that he would definitely go up in trip at some point.

He was briefly niggled along by Townend early down the back straight on Saturday though that may have been inexperience and is a big horse who hits the ground hard, while connections did opt to go Limerick over Leopardstown at Christmas for softer going.

A decent ground Turners would be a minor concern though I am not sure there are even those regarding the chance of Kopek Des Bordes in the Supreme. He was still keen in winning the Tattersalls Novice Hurdle on Sunday but nowhere near as bad as during his maiden hurdle win and his jumping was much improved.

Perhaps he beat an ordinary group, but the time was excellent, and he had plenty more to give, Townend commenting afterwards that ‘I never had to dip him at all’, a remarkable statement given the level he ran to here.

THERE have been staying chasers in recent years that have reached high highs but not been able to sustain that level, and others that hung around for a long time and picked up Grade 1s without ever being brilliant, but Galopin Des Champs has combined both ability and availability to a level not seen since Kauto Star.

Jodami and Beef Or Salmon both won the Irish Gold Cup three times, while Florida Pearl won it four times but repeat winners have been rare in recent times; in the 15 years between 2008 and 2022, there were 14 unique winners of the race, only Carlingford Lough winning twice.

Not only has Galopin Des Champs won the Irish Gold Cup three times, but he has added two Cheltenham Gold Cups and two runnings of the Savills Chase, another race where repeat winners have become increasingly rare; Beef Or Salmon won it thrice between 2002 and 2005, but in the 17 runnings before Galopin Des Champs won in 2023, there were 17 unique winners.

Sentiment is something that rarely appears in this column but there is something magical about the open three-mile Grade 1 chases around Leopardstown and the lore attached to them, they are the peak of jumps racing in Ireland in my view and maybe it should be centre-stage on Sunday rather than an auld hurdle race.

The race itself was uneventful as Townend and Galopin Des Champs controlled a steady pace in front, similar to Christmas, before pulling away after the last, the rest flattered to finish so close.

Fact To File seemed to confirm that the Cheltenham Gold Cup trip is going to be beyond him, and his participation there is uncertain, while Inothewayurthinkin shaped second best in fourth.

This sort of ground and steady pace was against him while he wasn’t fluent at either the fourth or third last as the pace was quickening, doing well to get back into the race two out where he jumped out to the right, before keeping on well late. He is not entered in the Gold Cup but looks to be building up to something.

Thinning out

Galopin Des Champs’ dominance has seen a thinning out of what looked like being a vintage Gold Cup at the start of the season. Injuries to key rivals like Fastorslow and Gerri Colombe have played a part too, and this looks like being the easiest task he has faced in a Gold Cup.

In 2023, he faced four rivals raced 170 or higher, while last year that number was two. At this point, he is the only horse rated in the 170s in the race with the next best being Banbridge and Ahoy Senor (!!) on 168, and Fact To File on 166.

Banbridge might have more to give over the Gold Cup trip, but those looking to oppose Galopin Des Champs on win only grounds are hoping for a freak event or time to finally defeat him.