Cheltenham Trials Day produced some fantastic finishes and enthralling action, of that nobody can deny.
The famous Cotswolds course hosted a mammoth nine-race card last Saturday after the postponement of the previous weekend's Ascot meeting moved the Clarence House Chase to Prestbury Park, while the Cross Country Chase, which fell to ground conditions in early December, was also rescheduled for this crisp afternoon in Gloucestershire.
An Irish winner got the action under way as Comfort Zone landed the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle for trainer Joseph O'Brien, as he narrowly got the better of Scriptwriter to give the visitors an early victory - a theme that many scriptwriters and experts predict will be followed for much of the Festival.
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There were two other Irish-trained favourites on the card in Delta Work and Energumene, but both could only manage third-placed finishes, although it would be no surprise to see either of them return to the winners enclosure in March.
Gordon Elliott said he was "delighted" with Delta Work's run in finishing behind Back On The Lash and Deise Aba, stressing that the Festival's Cross Country Chase will be the ten-year-old's Gold Cup this season.
Willie Mullins also sounded far from downbeat when speaking after the Clarence House and Energumene is now available at odds of 5/2 for the Champion Chase.
Take nothing away from Editeur Du Gite on the day. It was a fantastic front-running performance under Waterford jockey Niall Houlihan for the Moore team, but he will have a lot more on his plate come March. After recovering from serious injuries that left him in a coma less than a year ago, it was great to see Josh Moore enjoying Saturday's victory at Cheltenham.
Last year's Arkle winner Edwardstone looked like he was going to get the better of Editeur Du Gite on the run up the famous hill, but the Gary Moore-trained 14/1 shot rallied well to come home with his head in front. I would expect those placings to be reversed in six weeks' time. Not to mention that Blue Lord could also be in the mix come the Champion Chase.
Third behind Edwardstone in the Arkle, Blue Lord has won his two starts to date this season and looks set to be sent-off the odds-on favourite in Sunday's Ladbrokes Dublin Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival.
Back to last Saturday's action, and the Paddy Power Cotswold Chase looked like a match between Noble Yeats and Protektorat beforehand, but Sounds Russian and Ahoy Senor had different ideas, with the latter just getting the better of his rival as Noble Yeats stayed on well to finish third.
The result saw the race sponsors cut Ahoy Senor from 50/1 into 10/1 for the Gold Cup, though Galopin Des Champs, A Plus Tard, Conflated and Minella Indo will be among the Irish battalion he will have to contend with in the blue riband. Noble Yeats caught the eye as he stayed on strongly to finish third and he is a major Gold Cup contender.
How many winners from Cheltenham last Saturday will score again at March's meeting is up for debate, but I would go with none over any other amount, although there could have been one or two that finished in the placings that could be victorious come the Festival.
The question is how many winners at Leopardstown this weekend will score again at Cheltenham? It was four last year (26% of all winners) and five in 2021 (33% of all winners).
In comparison, none of the Trials Day winners in 2022 went on to win a race at the Festival. Trials Day was abandoned due to a waterlogged track in 2021, while Simply The Betts was the only horse to win at both meetings in 2020 (14% of all winners).
Only Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson have trained more Festival winners than Paul Nicholls, who had three winners at Cheltenham on Saturday with Stage Star, Il Ridoto and Hacker Des Places, but that total is three times more than the number of Festival winners that the Ditcheat trainer has had in the last three years, with him winning no races at the meeting in 2022 or 2021 and his last victory coming with Politologue in a five-runner Champion Chase in 2020.
French raider Gold Tweet was impressive in winning the Cleeve Hurdle, but it's hard to see him beating the likes of Teahupoo, Home By The Lee, Maries Rock and Flooring Porter if they all get to the Cotswalds in March, while Rock My Way, who narrowly won the penultimate race of the day, is a general 25/1 shot for both the Ballymore and Albert Bartlett.
Plenty has been made about the lack of English runners at the Dublin Racing Festival this weekend, but given how dominant Ireland have been at the major festivals in the UK over the past few years it's not a surprise.
So, who do we think could be the horses that could win at both Leopardstown and Cheltenham in the coming weeks? Lossiemouth, Appreciate It, Galopin Des Champs, Fascile Mode, Might Potter, James Du Berlais, Blue Lord and Facile Vega are all strong possibilities, not to forget Honeysuckle who has won at both meetings in each of the last three years.
Although much of the National Hunt season centres around Cheltenham, the Dublin Racing Festival is very much its own standalone event with fantastic prize money on offer, while one in five tickets sold for this weekend's meeting have been bought by UK-based racing fans.
It should be a fantastic two-day event of top class racing, which could prove vital in picking winners for Cheltenham come March.
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