Well as I expected Constitution Hill remains over hurdles. Mullins says that Impaire Et Passé will also stay hurdling so maybe it might be more interesting than last year, though how does he keep him and Stateman apart.
I just hope that run at Punchestown hasn’t left its mark on IEP.
Not sure if they have definitively said what Marine Nationale is doing?

Started a six month course (12 sessions) of chemotherapy the Friday before last and have another session this Friday - bloody horrible, feel totally worn out and aching all over, and don’t get me started on my bowel movements.

Hope you’re keeping well Uncle.

Could be an interesting 2 days at Cheltenham. Plenty of runners from Ireland with Flooring Porter the most high profile…could he be a contender in the RSA or is this just an afterthought. Lots of other interesting races to get stuck into.

I wonder if Cheltenham have spent any money on the facilities this year. Hopefully the Insurance bar has had a lick of paint and new carpet. Anyway, look forward to discussing the festival over the next 5 months

Good luck anyone going or having a bet this weekend.

I have always liked Gerri Colombe and you can not knock his attitude.

But a neck defeat of Envoi Allen, a 7 length victory over Complete Unknown and a defeat at the hands of The Real Whacker does not add up to a 5/1 second favourite for a Gold Cup.

He may prove to be a genuine contender, but not yet.

And with only one more run at Christmas before the festival he surely would have been plenty fit enough on Saturday. He's the bright new thing though and there is always a deal of more attention to those horses, throw in the subsequent potential kinks in the armour of the first two home in last years GC and it further drives the narrative.

Someone said earlier that he's more Denman to GDC's Kauto, well from what we've seen so far he's more Galvin/Santini rather than Denman, his price is very short.

I do not think the Gerri Colombe in the Brown Windsor would be good enough to beat Bravemansgame let alone Galopin Des Champ but the longer trip will certainly help. He'd be lacking tactical speed coming off the final bend, but the hill will suit. Nevertheless, 5/1 now is pretty short already.

Another decent weekend of racing on both sides of the Irish Sea though Cheltenham was fairly underwhelming imo.

Stage Star was impressive, and in hindsight was a big price, but the race, bar the last fence, panned out perfectly for him. He beat the same horse he did in the Turners so not sure it told us anything new, and a top form Allaho would surely leave him for dust.

In similar fashion Jonbon won impressively and at least they rode him aggressively which I think is the only way he can win a Queen Mother. I can forgive him one poor run and he never looked happy in last years, so with it effectively being a two horse race the 11/4 is fair enough.

Iberico Lord won the Greatwood for the same connections and will presumably be laid out for the County Hurdle where the.New Course should suit his run style.

Over at Naas it was good to see Bob Olinger show some of his old class
All the talk is about going for the Stayers but given his cruising speed I’d rather see him aimed at the Champion though there is next to no chance of that.

Facile Vega won well enough on his chase debut but Inthepocket was purely ridden to finish second and with several potential rivals for the Turners dropping out injured (Good Land and Iroko) I am very pleased with my antepist position.

One other horse I will mention is Slade Steel who won at Naas the previous Sunday. Looks like a step in trip will suit so the Ballymore looks the right target (same connections as Bob Olinger who won it). Have had a speculative punt at 75 on here.

That’s the great unknown and means I couldn’t back him - in fact he’s a horse I’ve never backed iirc. Like a lot of the great horses (Frankel, Kauto etc) they are never my sort of price.

But having watched back last years race Envoi Allen bolted in despite making serious mistakes at 4 out and 3 out, and was a bit untidybtwo out but was still on the bridle when pinging the last. He ran a blinder at Down Royal when just outstayed by GC and I was amazed to see he was as big at 14/1 so have played on him.

I'll certainly be keeping an eye on the Envoi Allen Ryanair price over the next few months. Barring injury, a surefire runner and won well last year despite arguably softer than ideal (and softer than usual) ground. I could see him running at least one disappointing race between now and the Festival but the stable is very good at getting them right in March.

Firefox was a good long-range shout, Uncle. It'll be interesting to see where he heads.

Another good weekend of racing though having backed Mahler Mission ante post it was also a bit frustrating.

In terms of Grade 1 action the Hattons Grace was by far the most interesting. Teahupoo repeating last years win against the previously unbeaten Impair Et Passe.
Elliot say Teahupoo won't run again until the Stayers which looks an excellent decision and I took some 5/1 shortly after the race. Looks a weak division and although he was beaten favourite last year in really attritional conditions hopefully he's a stronger horse this time around. Definitely the class act unless Thelma is the next Barracuda.
Impaire Et Passe lost little in defeat and a stronger run two miles in a bigger field should suit him - whether he can beat State Man let alone Constitution Hill is another matter.

The Drinmore Novice chase was won by last years Irish National winner in a quirk of the race planning system and Mullins suggest he may now be aimed at the big Grade 1 open races over 3m though I doubt he's up to that class.
Letsbeclearabout was disappointing.

The Royal Bond looked to be a little underwhelming beforehand and it will be disappointing if there aren't several better types for the Supreme.

At Newbury on Friday Hermes Allen put up an impressive chasing debut and may well be the best of the British, not that did him much good against the Irish last year!!

Three Card Brag should surely be favourite for the NH Chase now, that horse has been gagging for a proper trip since it saw a hurdle!

Looked a non stayer to me on Sunday.

Yeah maybe, his jumping will get many in trouble, to a point, however I think there would be a limit against even quicker horses over shorter again. He's a 3 mile heavy ground winner and yes it's all relative, I just think that he might just be able to keep going and going in that rhythm and over the extended trip and with that jumping he might be able to beat them off one by one.

if only cheltenham was right handed

El Fabiolo workmanlike and not really pressed but only 4 secs quicker than the mares novice chase.

Hate after timing…but I did back Gaelic Warrior at a decent price and laid him on here,,,currently 5/2 in a few firms 3,45 on purple and cash going thru as we type under 3 on here,,,Arbors out there

Oh dear Facile Vega! Could Gaelic Warrior be rerouted for The Arkle? The former finished last despite odds-on in a 4-runner race today at Leopardstown.

A thrilling King George and great to see the little guy win. Sadly I was on Shiskin but that's racing.

Constitution Hill did what he always does but hopefully he can bet tested more by the Mullins pair later on.
The French Novice chaser was ultra impressive but not sure he'll be coming to Cheltenham.

Some good racing in Ireland and it was the novice and juvenile hurdlers that were of most interest to me.

Having said the Royal Bond might not have been that good the Elliot horses that filled the front two places both ran ran really well. Sadly the winner of the Royal Bond Farren Glory fell when cruising in what used to be the Tolworth and King of Kingsfield destroyed the highly touted Mirazur West at Leopardstown.

The Grade 2 Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown saw Kala Conti reverse Fairyhouse form with Nurburgring on 6lb better terms, the pair split by a Kargese,a Mullins French recruit making it's debut.
The horse that I took out of the race though was back in 4th, namely Batman Girac.
A Mullins trained horse in the green Munir silks he had been a warm favourite for the aforementioned Fairyhouse race on his debut but hung badly left all the way and was pulled up.
Here he was settled out the back and was still last jumping two out before making rapid headway up the inside. He fluffed the last where it was a bit crowded but then picked up strongly once reorganised and switched round the tiring horses. He may be more of a Fred Winter type but I wouldn't be surprised if he ran really well back in the Grade 1 at the Dublin Festival and so had a small dabble at 100/1 for the Triumph.

At Limerick another Mullins newcomer Bunting was impressive in the juvenile hurdle and is now 10/1 2nd fav. Burdett Road the fav runs today at Chepstow and I can see him getting beat in what could be atrocious going.

In the Grade 2 Novice Hurdle over nearly 3m the Mullins trained Loughglynn was a good winner despite fluffing the last. He beat / outstayed Firefox in a bumper (see pg1) and he had two solid yardsticks of Elliots behind yesterday and the Albert Bartlett looks the obvious race for him. 16/1 is fair enough.

I've got to agree Duffy. It reminded me a little of Kauto Star chasing Denman in the Gold Cup - Hermes was faced with an impossible task on the day, but he stuck at it courageously.

The thing is though, surely Nicholls will want to split up Hermes Allen and Stay Away Fay, SAF is the stronger stayer, and he is much too good to run in the NH Chase. So Hermes is likely to end up in the Turners almost by default. It's also possible that such a hard race will leave its mark on Hermes.

Nicholls has already said SAF won't run in the NH chase I believe, but plans change. I agree with you that Hermes is a 3-miler.