LONG-TIME favourite Jonbon heads the 26 entries revealed this week for the Arkle Novices’ Chase on March 14th with 16 of those horses trained in Ireland.

There are eight possibles for Willie Mullins, with stablemates Appreciate It, Dysart Dynamo, El Fabiolo all with winning novice form over the minimum distance. In any other year Gordon Elliott would have a strong hand with Fil Dor, Hollow Games and Mighty Potter while Banbridge is Joseph O’Brien’s entry.

There are again eight Mullins entries in the Brown Advisory with other Irish entries coming from Mouse Morris’ Gentlemansgame, Noel Meade with Idas Boy and Thedevilscoachman, Henry de Bromhead has Amirite along with Telmesomethinggirl and John McConnell’s Drumbear.

Gordon Elliott has Mighty Potter in all three Grade 1s but Gerri Colombe looks more suited to this and Minella Crooner strengthens his hand to three possibles.

Twenty one of the 41 in the Turners are Irish-trained. This race is the only one in which the de Bromhead-trained Journey With Me holds an entry. Here, the current top 10 in the betting are trained in Ireland.

The National Hunt Chase looks a similar tale of woe for British trainers with Dan Skelton’s dual winner Hidden Heroics attempting to hold the fort against the Mullins/Elliott onslaught. Jonathan Sweeney’s Churchstonewarrior, second in his three novice chases to date, is the other noted Irish-trained runner.

There has been much talk of the mares’ races diluting the open championship races and there are only five mares entered in total over the four races. Cian Collins’ Effernock Fizz in the Arkle, Venetia Williams’ Bellatrixsa in the National Hunt Chase, Dan Skelton’s Galia Des Liteaux and Henry de Bromhead’s Telmesomethinggirl in the Brown Advisory and Nicky Henderson’s Tweed Skirt in the Turners Novices’. It means the top two in the market Allegorie De Vassy and Impervious are Mares Chase bound.

Overall entriese were down with only 37 horses were entered in the National Hunt Chase, a 47% drop from 70 entries in 2018, while the Brown Advisory attracted just 34 entries, a decline of 45% from 62 in 2018.

The Turners attracted the biggest entry in 41 but many are also entered in either the Arkle or the Brown Advisory. Sir Gerhard, marked up as a doubtful Festival runner by his owner in December but with an entry next week and in the novice chases at the Dublin Racing Festival, is entered in all three of the Grade 1s.