The cancellation of Saturday's racing is a blow to Leopardstown on one of the year’s major earners, but we will still get to enjoy the action and see the stars on show with that card being transferred to Monday.
The Sunday fixture looks more likely to go ahead with a fairly dry 24 hours before jumping off. The issue with rain isn’t so much how heavy the ground gets, more so surface water that has not had time drain away.
The Champion Hurdle is Sunday’s big one. The girls are to the fore as Lossiemouth and Brighterdaysahead dominate the betting, almost sharing favouritism after the pair were only separated by a length at Christmas. Let’s hope they serve up a battle that the two-mile hurdling division has been lacking.
Constitution Hill, Honeysuckle, State Man, Lossiemouth, Brighterdaysahead, The New Lion, Sir Gino and don’t forget reigning Champion Hurdler Golden Ace, have had overlapping careers, yet we have never had a memorable race to do this generation justice.
Between the mares opting for the soft touch against their own sex, sick absentees, falls, flops and more falls, there has been more letdowns than my teenage love life.
Lossiemouth (above) is a fantastic mare, 12 wins from 15 starts, with two of those defeats part of that list of letdowns. She was sluggish last Christmas when not landing a blow on Constitution Hill, then falling when leading State Man in this event last year.
With stablemate State Man sidelined for the season and a Mares Hurdle under her belt, hopefully connections will up the ante and contest the Champion at Cheltenham this year.
First things first, the Irish Champion.
Brighterdaysahead has been a slightly slower burner. She showed she is to be taken seriously last year when taking State Man in the Morgiana, blitzing the opposition over course and distance in last year’s Christmas Hurdle.
Willie Mullins though has more strings to his bow. Anzadam bolted mid race at Christmas which put paid to his chances. If he settles this time around he could have a bigger hand to play, while El Fabiolo tries to continue a successful return to hurdling, having never got the hang of a fence.
Without having had as many big names, the two-mile chasing division has been much more exciting.
Solness continues to pull it out of the bag around Leopardstown. Sixteen runs in to his chasing career, a Grade One win did not look likely. Winning at Christmas last year was a major surprise. Put down as a one-off, he has belied many doubters by backing it up in this event and again here six weeks ago.
Marine Nationale (above) was runner-up on two of those occasions. At his best he is better of those two.
The champion chaser reversed the form at both Cheltenham and Punchestown - a classy type who may not be at his best on the sodden turf.
Owner/trainer Barry Connell has added spice to the contest by bashing the opposition. Comments like "everybody beats Jonbon by eight lengths", and the Ascot Chase was a "Mickey Mouse race". To be fair to the man, he backed up his big talk when saying his star was a "certainty" for the Supreme Novice and again when thinking he was a good thing for the Champion Chase.
Despite their proven form, Majborough looks a likely favourite. A classy hurdler, winning the Triumph, he upped his status when winning the Irish Arkle by a street.
His jumping, while never flawless, has not let him show his full ability. Bad mistakes at Cheltenham cost him the English equivalent. Christmas saw him put in as good a round over fences as he has had, yet he needs to improve on that performance to overturn that result. Can he come through and be the star his unlimited potential promised?
Speaking of unlimited potential, we will get another look at Final Demand in the Ladbrokes’s Novice Chase. He has put in two rounds of jumping that were food for the soul.
Flawless on his debut around Navan, winning in a performance that looked like it would take most Grade Ones. He backed up those visuals with form in the bag when hosing up in Limerick’s Grade One Faugheen Chase. This could be a chaser for the ages.
