Ronan Groome’s Irish News: Dublin Racing Festival

It’s Day One of the Dublin Racing Festival and it’s a very similar feel. Willie Mullins/Paul Townend vs Willie Mullins/next-in-line jockeys vs the rest. The champion trainer has the favourites and substantial back up for all four of the Grade 1s, headlined by the dual Gold Cup winner and Leopardstown lover Galopin Des Champs in the Irish Gold Cup (3.30).

The nine-year-old is six from six over fences at the Dublin track, five of those wins coming in Grade 1s and he illustrated his appreciation for the course once again when reversing form when stablemate Fact To File to the tune of 10l from Punchestown to here at Christmas.

He went back to doing what he does best on that occasion, making all, which allows his high cruising speed to kick in via his his smooth jumping, and Fact To File just couldn’t live with him. The J.P. McManus-owned gelding only has a handful of runs over fences, so he is entitled to improve still and may be able to narrow the gap, but it’s difficult to see him doing that fully.

Galopin Des Champs is 4/7 though, and that’s hardly a working man or woman’s price is it?

The 7/2 quotes about Lady Vega Allen in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle look (1.50) more appeasing. This one goes into the Mullins/next-in-line jockeys category, a category which has proven successful for the last two renewals of this contest. This time it will be Sean O’Keeffe with the opportunity of big-race success, with Paul Townend opting to ride impressive Punchestown scorer Sainte Lucie, and splitting the pair in the betting is Gavin Cromwell’s Hello Neighbour.

Lady Vega Allen renews rivalry with that gelding, who beat her here in a Grade 2 at Christmas, but only be a short head, and you could make a case for the Willie Mullins filly emerging as the best performer on the day by the virtue of where she raced and the fast late sectionals she posted to get up to the winner. The pair are open to further improvement now, while the course experience they have is also a positive.

Sainte Lucie is obviously a massive player with Townend’s vote of confidence, but as impressive as she looked at Punchestown, her main market rivals disappointed. Also, it can’t have been a straightforward decision for the champion jockey, and sometimes the market can overplay that.

With the dead eight runners hopefully holding up, Lady Vega Allen is an excellent each way play.

In the Irish Arkle, I’d be lukewarm on Majborough. He impressed at Fairyhouse but his stablemates in second and third did little for the form since and he looks priced up more on reputation now. Firefox could give him a race with the drying ground an aid to him, and should at least allow him to get closer to Ile Atlantique, who is in at second favourite.

A similar story in the opener, the 2m6f Grade 1 novice hurdle which sees Final Demand command the bulk of the market. He impressed at Limerick but has garnered a big reputation since, and I think that has much to do with the lack of any real star Willie Mullins novice hurdler putting their hands up as of yet.

He’s too short here at 5/4 in a big field. Of the outsiders, have a look at I Am Lorenzo at 14/1. He’s a maiden admittedly, but I like the way he shaped here in a maiden hurdle at Christmas, when initially outpaced by the promising The Enabler and then staying on again over the 2m4f. This trip will suit him well and like most of them here, he has lots of scope to improve.

The best betting race of the day is the 2m handicap chase later on the card (16.05).

It’s no surprise to see Midnight It Is put in as favourite here off the back of two really solid runs, the latest a strong finishing third in the always competitive Dan Moore Memorial at Fairyhouse. He should be bang there for the Gavin Cromwell team, but if you like him, to at least some extent you have to like the chances of An Peann Dearg.

Paul Nolan’s gelding doesn’t have a sexy profile given his early chase form came during the summer, but he showed just how effective he is when getting the best of a bunch finish over this course and distance at Christmas, coming off a hot pace to beat a course specialist in The Folkes Tiara and The King Of Prs who went on to win the Dan Moore.

That puts him right in this again and when you combine that with his proven course form, his scope to improve off a lightly-raced profile and the likelihood that a fast pace here will ensure he gets a similar race set up for him to close again, I think he can be right in amongst them at the line again. He’s best priced 15/2 this morning and that looks a little big.

Ronan