A fabulous performance by Galopin Des Champ and if in anything like that form only the fences or bad luck can get him beat in March.

Stateman was also impressive and is so consistent that if nothing else he’s a good yardstick by which to rate Constitution Hill.

After a poor Boxing Day Willie Mullins team really came to the party and there were loafs of nice novice performances from the likes of Ballyburn, Jade De Grugy, Fact To File, Gaelic Warrior, Grangeclare West etc, though so hard to be sure which race at Cheltenham they will be targeted at.

Marine Nationale made a very satisfactory start to his chasing career but odds on after that one run is not tempting me, for all the opposition is looking thin.

At Newbury and Cheltenham there was little to get excited about.
Really hard to see the Challow winner Captain Teague finishing in the same parish as the Irish.
Jeriko Du Reponet won nicely but 5/1 for the Supreme looks bonkers when horses like Farren Glory and King of Kingsfield are 16/1 or bigger.

At Cheltenham Stage Star blew out and with Allaho not looking anything like the horse of two seasons ago the Ryanair looks wide open.
I was pleased they pulled Envoi Allen out of the Savills but after seeing what GDC did to that field surely Bravemansgame should
be rerouted to the Ryanair. 20/1 available or 8/1 nrnb.

One other horse I will mention is Inothewayurthinkin with a view to the Grand Annual.
After winning his first two novice hurdles he was campaigned in graded races and fell just short, and a similar thing is happening with his chase career. No disgrace in being beaten by Imagine (Grade 2 winner since) and twice by Gaelic Warrior.

McManus often aims one like this at the Grand Annusl and it’s usually very well punted. Dinoblye, Andy Dufresne Entoucas and Ned Buntline all finished second in their novice seasons.
Gavin Cromwell having a golden spell at Cheltenham as well so can easily see this going off as favourite. 12/1 nrnb with Hills.

Will Hill NRNB with the usual miserly prices. Worth keeping an eye out, though. If they go shorter on here
it's definitely worth a dabble in my experience.

Bunting (Triumph) from the same stable that won with Vauban; Mr Bloom (Energumene) owns him. He's running in the Dublin festival next month, and 7/1 nrnb (billie) or 12 here.

A couple of big novice hurdles in Ireland and normal service resumed with Mullins dominating.
Something that hasn’t been mentioned is the relatively poor form of the Elliot stable since Christmas.

The Lawlors Of Naas was won by the 16/1 shot Reading Tommy Wrong who beat his much better fancied stablemate Ile Atlantique. I think the most significant part of the result was that it make Ballyburn the clear Mullins number 1 for the Ballymore, despite there having been a big move for him for the Supreme.
Firefox was well beaten in 4th, patently not staying. He’d shown so much pace when beating Ballyburn over 2m that he is surely going to be dropped back to that trip now. And as I say the Elliot yard is not firing at all so I will definitely give him another chance.

On Sunday at Punchestown Mystical Power was a taking winner of the Moscow Flyer though with only 4 runners it maybe didn’t take a lot of winning. He’s now 9/2 favourite for the Supreme and certainly has better credentials than Jeriko Du Reponet.

I hope so Strontium , backed Farren for both just in case , but though I had thought how well he was going when he fell , I didnt realise quite how bad it looked , so glad to see him entered at Leopardstown .

A good days racing at Cheltenham and Doncaster with the Irish dominating the top races which will surely continue at the Festival in March.

Jonbon got turned over at 1/4 after an appalling round of jumping. I stated earlier in the thread the only way to ride him is aggressively from the front but again they held him up behind the pacesetters and he was way below par.
El Fabiolo just needs to turn up and jump a clear round on this evidence.

The Cleeve was a great watch with the usual suspects all bang there at the last but surely one of Elliots at the top of the market will have too much class for the old boys unless it's very attritional.

Lossiemouth bolted in against a very weak field and could easily be a player in future Champion Hurdles like Honeysuckle and Annie Power were. The Mares Hurdle looks a penalty kick although it is over an extra half mile which might give the opposition some hope.

Sir Gino was super impressive in the Triumph trial and unless one of the lightly raced Mullins horses can put up a similar performance at the Dublin Racing Festival he looks a solid favourite. He's a strapping individual and looks a good one for next years Arkle.

Over at Fairyhouse Jade De Gruchy won easily again and she will be hard to beat in the Mares Novice - 4/1 is fair.

Jack Kennedy was on The Road To Cheltenham and interestingly he had no hesitation in saying he would pick Firefox over Farrens Glory and King Of Kingsfield in the Supreme.

Hopefully some of the Mullins running plans, especially with his novices, may become more clear after the Dublin Racing festival.

Ashfield Diamond won well but WM did say he felt the race conditions (track, trip, ground) were all in her favour and that Gala Marceau would need the run. The only surprise was the betting with GM going off favourite.
Wouldn’t be surprised if AD swerves the Mares at Cheltenham.

Interesting, thanks Uncle. I believe Patrick is desperate to ride AD at the festival, but is he in favour at the moment?

A very pleasing result.
Even got 32/1 for a fiver using Hills Epic Boost offer.

Well the DRF played out pretty much as expected as a WPM benefit.

Not sure we learned a whole lot that we didn't already know - GDC, El Fabiolo and Statesman all won quite impressively but didn't really enhance their Cheltenham claims in the process.

There were only two really impressive winners, though sadly Jeroboam Machin is out for the season with an injury,  and Ballyburn who still has two options, though I will be surprised if he doesn't go for the Supreme.
Was delighted with the run of Slade Steel in second and he surely deserves to be favourite for the Ballymore if Ballyburn is absent.

Kargese won a very competitive looking Triumph trial fairly decisively and while Sir Gino looks a monster she seems overpriced at double figures on here - even if only a cover bet.

The long distance novice hurdle was won by outsider Dancing King at 16/1 but not sure any of them looked like Cheltenham winners.

The Arkle trial went as I had hoped and has blown the race wide open. Marine National was beaten a long way out and while the trainer is claiming it was just the ground and suggesting we will see a different horse at Cheltenham it would take a brave man to take what is still a bad price. Kevin Blake in particular was very vocal that the horse may be gone due to breathing issues.
The front two both have their chance and tbh I'd favour Found A Fifty at Cheltenham though in no rush to back him yet. Facile Vega ran a bit better but might step up in trip.

Fact Or File won a match that turned into a walkover nearly a mile from home so very difficult to know what he achieved. The time was apparently very good and he is clearly a nice prospect but he is very short and what race does he go for?
With the news Grangeclare West is out do they step him up to 3m for the Brown Advisory, and run Facile Vega in the Turners? What they do with Gaelic Warrior is anyones guess??

An impressive win by Tullyhill at Punchestown and as he would be Paul Townshends ride in a Supreme, unlike Mystical Power, maybe that will have Mullins divert Ballyburn back to the Ballymore (or whatever it's called).

Also interesting to read that Henry De Bromhead does not want to take on Ballyburn again with Slade Steel so that could mean SS is switched to the Supreme in the backwash.

Should Ballyburn go for the Ballymore there will be less than ten runners, and he will be a shorter price than he ever would have been for a Supreme.

This Ballymore or Supreme question has been the biggest nonsense of the jump season. Even though he has looked like the Ballymore winner before the season even started, it seemed he might be thrown at the shorter race purely because the stable jock isn't on a fancied horse? That has never made any sense. He's the best novice, and you just run him over a trip that suits, not one you think he might be able to get away with. That would just give him the best chance of not winning either race. Hopefully, today's result is a nudge towards sanity.

Is Hendo reading the bookies' paper too diligently? He'd not understand the criticism levied on Shishkin, and some looking for chinks in Constitution Hill.

Mr Henderson, just chill! The bookies' stooges are merely writing for their paymasters. Constitution Hill is as certain as taxes (nrnb). I think - on a going day - Shishkin is as comfortable usurping GDC in the Gold Cup as China usurping the USA as the world's leading economy in the near future. And, the forgotten Jeriko Du Reponet is now at a backable price for The Supreme.

All good Hendo. Go out and let your hair down!

With Mr Mullins' charges it's always prudent to follow the market nearer the time; inside info = greed as far as Closutton stable is concerned. It never strays too far away from the truth. Money talks!

A shocking G1 you would like to have on other side of the water

I don't think that Appreciate It was ever a penalty kick for either race. Ballyburn is the best novice of the season, and it would be a big fail not to win a race at the Festival with him. Had he run over the right trip from the outset he wouldn't have been beaten this season. Unfortunately, part of Mullins is still trying to prove that starting point was correct. 

As I said yesterday it's only down to the Mullins factor that the debate hasn't closed. He could announce today which way the horses are going. If Ballyburn went Ballymore the ground won't be an issue as he stays further than that trip, and the stable now has at least a couple of chances in the Supreme.

That old adage about stamina and speed just isn't true, it's become a lazy statement. If you look at the vast majority of winners of both races (people just like to cherry pick a few winners that suit) there is little evidence to support it. In any case Townend could dictate the speed of a small field Ballymore.

I don't want to go over the same arguments, but Ballyburn wasn't pigeon-holed as a Ballymore type, everything about his performances in bumpers (having to be shaken up, and running strongly through the line) and pedigree shouted he was a Ballymore type. He has been favourite for that race from the start of the season. There would have been loads of options to start him off over the intermediate trip, but Mullins just chose to ignore them, resulting in him being palpably outpaced and beaten.

All the DRF proved was he was capable of confirming his bumper form with another stayer, in a poor Grade 1. Basically, he got away with winning a poor race. I would say the approximate percentage chances of him winning would be Supreme 20 (and that might be too generous), and Ballymore 90.

Anyone with mega antepost bets maturing at this Festival? Most of mine have hit the deck already with just GDS (several accas from the Flat) and of course Shishkin after the flop of his last visit here.

All the best Uncle. Fingers crossed.

All the best Uncle , ground updates also welcome .