Joseph O'Brien is targeting Punchestown Festival redemption with Banbridge following his disappointing effort in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Winner of the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen's Day, the nine-year-old went to post as second-favourite for last week’s blue riband behind dual winner Galopin Des Champs, but was a spent force long before the home turn and passed the post last of seven.
O’Brien reports his charge to have returned to Ireland none the worse and hopes he can show his true colours in County Kildare, with the Punchestown Gold Cup currently viewed as a more likely target than the two-mile Champion Chase he won last season.
Reflecting on his Cheltenham performance, O’Brien said: "He didn’t jump as well as we would have liked. He still looked to be going pretty well jumping the fourth- or fifth-last and he just faded a little bit from there home.
"He’s come back well and Punchestown would be a logical target for him now having won there last year.
"We’ll probably leave options open, but we’d be thinking about sticking to three miles."
Another O’Brien inmate seemingly bound for Punchestown is Solness, who finished an honourable fourth in the Queen Mother Champion Chase having been unable to adopt his usual front-running tactics.
O’Brien added: "I thought he ran great given the way the race panned out for him. He seems fine after the race and you’ll probably see him in Punchestown as well."
There is a "small chance" Brighterdaysahead will contest the William Hill Aintree Hurdle, as connections eye an immediate bounce back from her Champion Hurdle disappointment.
Gordon Elliott and owners Gigginstown House Stud dared for greatness at Prestbury Park when after two thrilling victories over State Man on home soil they pitched their star mare into a mouthwatering Champion Hurdle.
What unfolded had to be seen to be believed with both the heavy favourite Constitution Hill and defending champion State Man falling and Brighterdaysahead failing to give her true running and wilting tamely in the home straight, as Jeremy Scott's Golden Ace scorched to victory in the day one feature.
It was the second time Brighterdaysahead had failed to sparkle at Cheltenham, but she could be given the chance of immediate redemption before the season ends.
"Hopefully we have found something that might have caused her to run poorly, hopefully she is over that now and that just wasn’t her, it was an odd run," said Gigginstown’s Eddie O’Leary.
"We’ll have to see what happens and there is a small chance she will make Liverpool.
"The Champion Hurdle run just wasn’t her and from the word go she just wasn’t happy. We’re happy enough there was a small issue so hopefully we have that sorted out now."
Brighterdaysahead silenced the doubters with a dazzling display on Grand National day last year and a liking for racing left-handed makes a step up in trip at Aintree to race over the same course-and-distance she relished 12 months ago the preferred option.
"She is better off going left-handed. If it’s not Liverpool she will have to go the other way round at Punchestown," continued O’Leary.
"It would be in the two-and-a-half-mile race at Liverpool. We’d prefer to go left-handed, but it would be up to her. If she’s well and flying again then that’s grand, but if not we can go to Punchestown."
Meanwhile, there is no pressure on Willie Mullins' Energumene to run again this term after he was pulled up at Cheltenham.
The 11-year-old was returning to the meeting in a bid to reclaim his Queen Mother Champion Chase crown, a title he gained by wide margins in both 2022 and 2023.
He missed the 2024 meeting due to a setback that left him off the track for nearly 600 days, but his comeback in the Hilly Way at Cork in December suggested his old ability was still intact, as he looked to have the measure of subsequent King George winner Banbridge when Joseph O’Brien’s charge unseated at the last.
Next time out he was the runner-up behind Jonbon in the Clarence House at Ascot, a run that led into the Cheltenham Festival where he started a 6-1 chance to strike again Wednesday’s feature race.
He made the running in a field of eight and looked to have every chance over the third fence from home, but from there his progress stalled and he was eventually pulled up by Paul Townend.
After being assessed by the vet he was found to be suffering from a sore shin, but soon he was trotting up sound and he remains that way having travelled back to Closutton.
"He was pulled up and he seemed quite distressed, Paul felt that he’d lost his action a bit. We were a bit concerned and we had the vet check him over, he got quite a bad knock to his shin," said Sean Graham, racing manager to owner Tony Bloom.
"He trotted up sound the following day and he seems fine, but they will just keep an eye on him over the next few weeks.
"We’ve no idea at this stage if he’ll run at Punchestown, we haven’t even thought about that yet so we’ll just give him time to recover."
Though he is in the latter stages of his career as an 11-year-old, should he bounce back from Cheltenham with his usual enthusiasm then retirement is not imminent.
"He comes first, if he does live to fight another day this season then that would be brilliant, but if not the horse owes us nothing," Graham added.
"He was still a 6-1 chance to win the race (at Cheltenham), so if he’s fit and healthy enough then why not bring him back as a 12-year-old?
"Captain Guinness was there as a 12-year-old and he was placed, there’s no need to end a horse’s career just for the sake of it.
"If he’s happy and healthy and is still enjoying it then there’s no reason not to keep him in training."
A crack at the Galway Plate could be an option for Cheltenham Festival hero Jazzy Matty in the summer, with Cian Collins' stable star having a trip to Punchestown on the more immediate agenda.
The six-year-old was a poignant winner of the Grand Annual at Prestbury Park having previously enjoyed success at the showpiece meeting in the hands of the late Michael O’Sullivan when trained by Gordon Elliott in 2023.
Jazzy Matty’s victory formed part of a remarkable afternoon last Wednesday when striking only 40 minutes after O’Sullivan’s other Festival hero Marine Nationale had taken the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
It was also a huge occasion for his Navan-based handler who was registering a breakout victory and arguably the biggest of his fledgling training career with the €50,000 buy he picked up from the high-profile Andy and Gemma Brown dispersal sale.
Jazzy Matty will now remain in handicap company as Collins sets out to discover how far up the ladder his charge can climb, with Punchestown up next before a possible Galway assignment in the summer.
"It was brilliant and couldn’t have gone any better, we were absolutely delighted. It’s slowly sinking in and it has taken a while, it’s just relief and I couldn’t believe it happened," said Collins, reflecting on his Cheltenham experience.
"The horse has come home in great form, I would say fresher than he went and he enjoyed his trip over. He loves Cheltenham and goes round there very well. The undulations and the occasion seem to suit him and he really enjoyed it.
"We’ll probably go to Punchestown and then we’ll aim for Galway after that for possibly a go at the Plate. We’ll stick to handicaps for the time being. We just need a bit of luck and for him to stay healthy and sound and we’ll see where he ends up."
Punchestown or perhaps Royal Ascot are pencilled in for Poniros after his shock success in the JCB Triumph Hurdle.
The four-year-old was purchased for Tony Bloom for 200,000 guineas at the Tattersalls horses in training sale last October, leaving the ownership of Amo Racing after a Flat career when based with Ralph Beckett.
On his final start for Beckett he left the stalls as favourite for the valuable Cambridgeshire handicap at Newmarket, though he was ultimately unsuccessful when hindered by the draw.
He was one of 11 runners for Willie Mullins' stable in the Triumph, making his hurdling debut at 100-1 as a seemingly lower ranking member of the Closutton string under Jonjo O’Neill jr.
His victory over the well-fancied duo of Lulamba and East India Dock came as a huge surprise then, and distinguishes the Golden Horn gelding as a real prospect under the National Hunt code.
He may not be quite finished on the Flat, however, with more than one option on the table for the rest of the year.
"We bought him at the horses in training sales in Tattersalls and I was really keen on him," said Sean Graham.
"Tony had a horse called The Reverend who won at Ascot in September and Poniros was fourth behind him having probably not had the clearest passage. I thought 'there’s a horse that stays and will likely jump a hurdle’.
"He actually started the 6-1 favourite for the Cambridgeshire, but a mile to a mile and a quarter is probably on the sharp side for him.
"He was beaten by the draw so we put a line through that run and didn’t even judge him on it. He’d run eight times over two years so we knew he must be a tough horse.
"We bid on a couple of other horses at the sales that we didn’t get, and with the way things have transpired it was probably very fortunate because we’ve ended up with what could be a very, very exciting horse going forward."
Should Poniros fare well in the coming weeks then Punchestown looks likely, but if he needs more downtime then Royal Ascot could come into the picture in June.
"I spoke both with Willie and David Casey (assistant trainer) and for both of them their initial thoughts were Punchestown, but we’ll just have to see how the horse comes out of the race because that was his first run over hurdles," Graham said.
"We don’t know how much that has taken out of him, but if he tells us he’s fighting fit and healthy then I can see no reason we wouldn’t go to Punchestown with him.
"If he’d only jumped all right (at Cheltenham), completed the course and finished mid-division we’d have still been delighted, and the top two horses in the market were second and third behind him, so I don’t think there was any fluke about it.
"We’ll try not to get too excited, hopefully we’ll go to Punchestown now but if not we’ll maybe think about Royal Ascot."
