IT is getting late in the piece for horses to put forward Cheltenham Grade 1 claims, but Tullyhill seemed to do just that in winning the Madigan Group Irish EBF Sheila Bourke Novice Hurdle at Punchestown last Sunday.

This listed contest has not been a fruitful source of Cheltenham winners of late - Thedevilscoachman the best recent winner - the race a bit close to the Festival for comfort, though Willie Mullins has won it with some good horses, among them Wicklow Brave (2014), So Young (2011) and Mikael D’Haguenet (2009).

Each of those went to Cheltenham with good claims, the last-named winning the now Baring Bingham, though modern training methods prefer a longer gap before the Festival.

Since 1997, seven Supreme winners had run in the previous 30 days, Labaik and Vautour the most recent of those, while in the same period five Baring Bingham winners had run in the previous month, Simonsig the most recent in 2012.

Altering plans

This race was hardly the long-term plan for Tullyhill but a disappointing hurdling debut at Punchestown in November over a staying trip meant a change in timeline and no trainer is better than Willie Mullins when altering plans, so the relatively quick turnaround is not a major concern.

Tullyhill’s win here was commanding from the front and while it may appear that he got a soft lead, his time was good, and his hurdling has gotten better from run to run.

Paul Townend commented afterwards that he still has his own way of getting to the other side of his obstacles, but he could prove better going back left-handed as he tends to go that way.

The result now throws a spanner in the works for the novice hurdle targets of his stablemates. Tullyhill has flopped over further, and his only Cheltenham entry is the Supreme, whereas both Ballyburn and Mystical Power have multiple entries. Experience suggests it is unlikely that all three will go for the shorter race.

One comparison between Tullyhill and Ballyburn is the way they were placed at the most recent Punchestown Festival. Both had similar profiles coming into that meeting, having won their sole bumper start beforehand, but it was Tullyhill that went for the Grade 1 race, connections of Ballyburn preferring to take a more gradual approach with their horse.

In hindsight, the Ballyburn race – though only a winners’ of one – has turned out stronger, with graded winners Dancing City and Slade Steel filling the frame, but their respective targets may say something about their standing at that time.

THERE were Grand National Trials at both Haydock and Punchestown over the weekend, with unexposed Irish-trained runners winning both - Yeah Man and Where It All Began - likely setting themselves up for a go at the Boylesports Irish Grand National at Easter.

Lightly-raced horses do well in that valuable Fairyhouse race but an older performer, who looks very well-handicapped on previous form, also shaped well at Punchestown.

Any Second Now may only have finished sixth on Sunday but he was one of few to get involved from off the pace in a race that was run around the inner track and he finished off well without getting a hard time in the straight, his final furlong the third fastest in the race per Course Track sectionals.

It was the sort of run that should see him fall in the weights and having been rated as high as 162 last season, he was off 144 here with a further drop likely. He may not be the horse that finished second in the 2022 Aintree National off 159 but he was able to win a Navan Grade 2 last March. He tends to be better at this time of the year, his form figures from February to the end of the jumps seasons reading: 3U3831F31131241P, and the drying ground in the spring tends to bring out the best in him.

The Grand National has been his target race in recent years but he was not entered this year, Ted Walsh unhappy with the British mark of 159 he received when put in the Classic Chase at Warwick, but while that rating is likely too high for one his age, his Irish mark might tend the other way. Older horses may not win the Irish Grand National, but they have a decent record of making the frame, five of the 19 runners aged 12 or older hitting the first four since 1997, and Any Second Now seems to retain enough ability to be competitive in a race like that.

GAVIN Cromwell has enjoyed a terrific winter with his runners in Britain, and that continued at Haydock last Saturday where he landed the most valuable and third most valuable races on their card, via Yeah Man in the Grand National Trial and Now Is The Hour in the Prestige Novices’ Hurdle.

Avoiding rivals trained by Gordon Elliott and, especially Willie Mullins, has been a central consideration in Cromwell targeting these races, but prize money too would seem to play a significant role in the move.

Taking October as the rough starting point of the National Hunt season proper, Cromwell has trained 35 winners at home and 11 in Britain, but the high value wins have come almost exclusively on the road.

Of the top 10 races he has won in that period judged on prize money, the top eight came in Britain with the exceptions being Only By Night’s win in a Navan listed bumper worth €19,175 to the winner and Letsbeclearaboutit winning at Cork in a Grade 3 novice chase worth €18,585 to the winner.

More valuable

The prize money in Britain can be maligned but their graded and listed National Hunt races are often more valuable than the equivalent races in Ireland.

Since the start of the 2022/’23 N.H. seasons in both jurisdictions, there have been 435 graded or listed non-handicaps run through last Saturday, 216 in Britain and 219 in Ireland so a roughly even split.

But in terms of prize money, the contrast is stark. Of the 105 races that were worth ballpark €20,000 or less to the winner, 75 were in Ireland with 30 in Britain. I say ‘ballpark’ because the database I am using for this research uses pounds sterling to measure prize money and the conversion rate has varied over time but the point stands.

Revealing

A look at the prize money profile of the Red Mills Hurdle at Gowran over the last 10 years paints a revealing picture. The race was a Grade 2 at the start of that period before being downgraded to a Grade 3 in 2017 but was at its most valuable in 2019 and 2020 when worth €35,400 to the winner.

The three post-pandemic runnings – the 2021 race was run at Fairyhouse – in 2022, 2023 and 2024 have been worth just €17,700 to the winner and stands in contrast to the Kingwell Hurdle run at Wincanton last Saturday.

That race is a Grade 2 admittedly but was worth £41,608 to the winner, with the (Irish-trained) runner-up Colonel Mustard picking up £15,582 for his efforts. The better ground in England was a consideration for Lorna Fowler but the prize money played its part too.