THE Savills Chase finish would have seen the crowd, if present, lift the roof off the stands as the indomitable Davy Russell produced a power-packed finish on Galvin (165) to steal the prize from A Plus Tard and deny Cheveley Park Stud a Grade 1 treble at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival.

The excitement over fences then continued in the next race as Galopin Des Champs delivered a spectacular chasing debut in a beginners’ chase.

The time figure of the feature chase was a career best by the winner although someway short of the best achieved by A Plus Tard (165), hinting the pace set by Kemboy was not as fast as in last year’s renewal as he enjoyed an uncontested lead this time around.

Split-screen

A split-screen view with Galopin Des Champs (156+) romp confirms the view while not detracting from the brilliance of the Closutton-based novice chaser.

Kemboy (163) established a lead early in his race and settled into a comfortable racing rhythm so, by the time it was possible to join the races, the overall time figure suggested the nine-year-old was brisk over his opening fences.

Through the section from the first fence jumped in the beginners’ chase to the last fence with a circuit to run, there was little to choose between the two races.

Heading out on the final circuit, the gaps started to materialise in the beginners chase as did the differential between the two races as Galopin Des Champs initially led the Grade 1 field by 14 lengths at the first in the back straight and stretched to 22 lengths by the fourth last before the five-year-old was allowed to coast home.

Galvin completed the closing sectional in 84.2 seconds compared to Galopin Des Champs 87.5 seconds as the distance between the two races reduced considerably in the closing stages.

There is little doubt Galopin Des Champs is the best staying novice chaser we have seen so far this season and I would also maintain A Plus Tard is still a worthy favourite for the Gold Cup where the extra stamina demands will play more to his strengths.

The leading hurdle race on the card was the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle which saw the seasonal debut of Klassical Dream (140) and an eagerly awaited clash with reigning Cheltenham Stayers’ Hurdle winner Flooring Porter (138).

The time-figure was solid if not spectacular for the grade as the leading players jousted rather than being all out combative for the lead. I can see the competition being more aggressive in March with the likely result of an infinitely better time figure.

A comparison with the Pertemps Qualifier shows the handicap to be above average with Panda Boy (130) (82.1) closing off from the third last in a faster time than Klassical Dream (83.1).

The opening maiden hurdle won by Howyabud (140) is worth a second viewing as the overall race time and closing sectional were the fastest on the card over the smaller obstacles.

MIGHTY Potter (143) built on the promise he showed in the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse’s Winter Festival to land a Grade 1 victory of his own in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown on Monday.

In what turned out to be more of a test of stamina than speed, Gordon Elliott’s gelding proved just too strong for stablemate Three Stripe Life (141).

Largy Debut put the pace to the race despite jumping erratically and the Henry De Bromhead-trained gelding ultimately proved disappointing. His early exertions ensured the field reached the last in the back straight 12 lengths ahead of Brides Hill (136) who led in the handicap before running out an impressive winner.

Gavin Cromwell’s filly was faster through the closing sectional, posting 83.0 seconds from the third last hurdle compared to Mighty Potter’s 84.8 seconds as the differential between the two shortened races reduced to just a few lengths.

Icare Allen (120) was an impressive winner of the opening race despite being around 30 lengths adrift of Brides Hill in a comparison from the first hurdle on the circuit.

To support the view of the shortened race, the J.P. McManus-owned three-year-old was also much slower through the finishing sectional as he covered the ground from the third last in 86.8 seconds.

Envoi

Envoi Allen (140) was left with the Grade 1 Paddy’s Rewards Chase at his mercy courtesy of the morning defection of Chacun Pour Soi and, although he duly collected the prize, the clock paints a disappointing picture of the performance.

A glance at the overall race time shows Haut En Couleurs (146) was 10 lengths quicker over the same course and distance although given the Cheveley Park Stud star was forced to make his own running this could have been overlooked.

However, a shortened version of the race and particularly the closing sectionals show the superiority of the beginners’ chase to be more substantial.

Henry de Bromhead’s seven-year-old would have reached the last fence in the back straight 1.2 seconds in advance of his younger counterpart before failing to maintain the gallop as he laboured to a closing sectional of 90.6 seconds.

The Willie Mullins-trained four-year-old stopped the clock at 84.6 seconds for the same distance of ground and would have crossed the line over 20 lengths in front of Envoi Allen in the short race.

Paddy Power

Taking all the data into account, the Paddy Power Chase is the race to focus on in terms of finding future winners. The overall race time when adjusted for distance was far superior and, given the extra distance covered, School Boy Hours (153) (96.3) posted a meritorious closing sectional.

Of the placed horses, Ben Dundee (152) has improved for stepping up in trip although he finds winning difficult so there looks more upside to Enjoy D’Allen (150) who was staying on strongly in the closing stages and is already proven on deep winter ground.

Braeside (148) and Death Duty (146) came from a similar position to the winner with the former finishing to better effect with a closing effort of 87.3 seconds.

Iwilldoit (140) gave Sam Thomas the biggest win of his fledging training career as the Welsh Grand National turned into a war of attrition with only five completing.

The time-figure for the feature race lessened due to the closing stages being very slow, while the best performance on the card was achieved by Golden Whisky (150) in the handicap chase.

Assessing the final circuit of the handicap against the Welsh National shows Paint The Dream (139) reached the final fence in the back straight 18 lengths ahead of Ramses De Taille, confirming the strong pace in the long distance feature race even though the runners had covered more ground.

Golden Whisky made his winning manoeuvre at the first in the home straight as the gap between the races grew by a further five lengths before the Evan Williams-trained winner eventually extended the distance to 60 lengths at the line.

The relative closing sectionals from the last in the back straight were Golden Whisky 116.6 seconds and Iwilldoit 125.2 seconds, while Pats Fancy (120) could only manage 119.4 off a very slow early pace.